Pokemon Dreams 04 - Aqua
by ExuroUniverse
Summary: With no memory of his past, Zack Raines tries to reclaim his memory to figure out who he is by travelling throughout the Unova region with the help of a female Oshawott named Aqua with a unique ability that'll help them to survive against countless foes. Rated T for violence and swearing.
1. Chapter 1 Gang of Castelia City

**AN: And welcome to the fourth entry to the series. Same as before; 40 chapters and 05 extra chapters at the end of the story that kind've act similar to that of filler stories, stories that happen on the side of the main one.**

**I have three OC requests from other readers originally wanting them to appear in the previous story, 03, but I couldn't quite find the right chapter to place them all in without being all cramped up and out of place. And I was almost finished with the story. So I asked them if they wanted to be placed in this story and they have agreed all three of them, huyah! So uh please enjoy Pokemon Dreams 04 Aqua.**

Speech "Who are you?"

_Italic for thought "Is that… Shiny Latias? It can't be!"_

**Bold for area Random Store - 44:4PM**

* * *

Chapter 01 – Gang of Castelia City

We just wanted to be free. Free from the fighting, from the bloodshed and death that I saw. Surrounded by our enemies with what little strength I had on that beach with the moons pale light was all we had for light source, I couldn't give up.

I was tired, bleeding, but still pushing myself to the very limit to see the next day, no matter what. I had to survive, I wanted to see my friends and family again, and protect my new family.

That year, we travelled all of Unova in search for a home, a safe home for us to stay for the rest of our days in peace. I say 'we' because of her; an Oshawott I had met on the beach near Castelia City. We were taken in by the same Pokemon standing on the beach ready to attack and to kill at any second now.

In their place we thought we were safe there with them, that their home could become ours. But then we saw them for what they truly were, we had to escape them, but they found us. All we wanted was a place to call our own, a place we could call home.

* * *

****

**Castelia City – Beach – 2024 – Two days after the assault on Team Doom**

A lone shiny female Oshawott walked the shorelines of the beach just on the edge of Castelia City, frightened, scared without much direction other than follow where the shoreline would take her. She had been walking ever since leaving the center of the city not caring who would find her here or what would happen to her after, she just wanted to see the ocean before the end. She sat down on the sand and watched the waves, her heart beating fast now. This beach was dangerous for Pokemon like her, they would find her soon, minutes, hours, this beach was always watched by the worst kind, and she knew it. She didn't care about that anymore, she didn't care what they did to her, and all she knew was that soon, all of this would be over…

for about a month now she had been left alone, alone to wander the streets aimlessly not knowing what she could do now. She knew there were many gangs in this city that would eat her alive if they knew she had entered their territory, but she didn't care, not anymore. The Oshawott had given up on everything, she was trapped in this city, a city occupied by many gangs all fighting for control and if she were ever caught int he crossfire she would be dead. Every possible escape in the city was blocked by them, gangs watching both entrances of the city, even gangs watching the borders for possible rival factions moving in to take over their territory, even the ocean had been taken by one of the worst and dangerous gangs she knew had controlled the very same sand she walked on. "_At least it'll be quick"_ She thought with a sigh, kicking the sand as she walked slowly along the shoreline. She wondered how long it would take for them to find her, for them to come up with the accusation that she was a rival gang member attempting to infiltrate the base or as a distraction. No matter what she would say, she knew they would not listen, they would not believe her. But if the Oshawott knew this and what could happen, why was she giving up this easily? Surely enough she could find a trainer or a human to take her in or tried at least on escaping.

"Hm?" She turned. Something had caught her eye as it washed up shore on the beach, something white and stained with red. Then as the waves had pushed him further up from the ocean and onto the beach, she noticed it was a Pokemon, and the red stains were blood. "I-is that a… a body?" She squeaked, fearing that this was where the 'Cruel One's' dumped the bodies of those who anger them, of what they do to their enemies. The little Oshawott was just about to tuck tail and run away as fast as she could… but stopped when she realized whatever it was that had just washed up ashore was moving… it was alive. Cautiously, she approached it until she was about ten steps away from what she now realized was a Dewott, a male Dewott bleeding all over from head to tail.

This Dewott's body fur was white when it should've been light blue, that was what the little Oshawott's parents had told her years ago when she was a young Oshawott wanting to know about her next evolution form. Perhaps it was a regional variant she thought, a Pokemon from another region.

"H-hello, can you hear me?" She asked, lightly shaking him with her little paws, but no response. She walked around his body to get a closer look at his face; his right side cut up badly with deep long cuts across his cheek and forehead. She didn't know what to do. The 'Cruel One's' would surely catch them both if she didn't get off the beach and to somewhere safer, a place where she could try and help the Dewott. But she didn't have anywhere else to go, she didn't know how she could carry him off the beach. The Oshawott kneeled down in front of his face and placed a paw on his forehead, he was burning up, and time was running out. If she left him he would die by his sickness or because of the 'Cruel One's', if she stayed with him she wouldn't stand a chance against them, they would both be killed.

"Hello little one!" She heard a voice behind her… it was one of the 'Cruel One's' she was too late. She heard many footsteps approach her from behind, ten of them, fifteen, maybe more. Before she could turn around or react to them, her vision suddenly went black. Death, no she wasn't dead, not yet at least. The 'Cruel Ones' were called such by not granting their victims a quick death, but a long and painful death. The rumors she had had heard about from other Pokemon within the city, they were sickening, the stuff of nightmares.

* * *

****

**Unknown Location**

Darkness surrounded me everywhere I looked, except for the light above shinning down on me like a spotlight. There was a sharp pain in my left eye, but I couldn't see anything through it since there was a large patch covering my eye. I was covered; my arms, chest and forehead were all covered in patches over large cuts and wrapped in bloodstained bandages covering up my deep cuts. I was an old mattress in what appeared to be some kind of makeshift hospital room with medicine cabinets, a saline bag hung up on a coat hanger hooked up to my arm. My right arm felt numb, like it had been crushed by something incredibly heavy.

"You're awake?" I heard a voice beside me. I turned my head to see a female shiny Oshawott sitting on top of a small bedside chair. On top of her head wrapped around some fur sticking up at the top of her head was a slightly torn pink ribbon with a blue gem-like stone at the knot. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't wake up… how are you feeling?"

I was confused, confused as to where I was and who this Oshawott was and why was she here watching over me. "It hurts all over… w-what happened to me? Where am i?" The Oshawott shook her head.

"I don't know. I found you washed up on the beach like that, covered in many scratches all over. But as to where we are…" She sighed glumly. "W-where are in the 'Cruel One's' hideout."

"The 'Cruel One's'?" I asked, and in response she nodded once. "Who are they?"

"They're a gang of stray Pokemon living in the southern section of Castelia City without any trainers. They steal from others, kill any that dare challenge them, wanting to take control over the city whilst pushing out the opposing rivals… and punishing those who dare enter their territory…" The Oshawott glanced back over her shoulder towards the dark side of the room. "I found you washed up on the beach… right on their territory."

"I'm sorry; if I hadn't been there on the beach you wouldn't have ended up in here with me…" I felt a surge of pain shot up at the back my neck, but I didn't show this and remained silent. I was struggling to keep my right eye open every time I tried to move it… which was odd because I could only feel my right eye move and not my left…

She shook her head and smiled. "If you weren't there on the beach I would've most definitely been caught by them already. Do you want some water?" She asked, I nodded my head desperate for some water. The Oshawott hopped off and walked away from the bed and returned with a filled plastic cup of water she had got from the darker side of the room. "I'm afraid this is the only cup of water you can have because the Pokemon who brought us here are disusing amongst themselves whether or not on what to do with us." The Oshawott leaned the plastic cup up to my lips and helped me drink the water in small sips... the water was slightly warm, but it was good enough.

"So uh… d-do you have a name? Or are you called Dewott?" She asked me after setting the plastic cup beside the bed. There was something wrong with that. Not just the name, I knew that already, but I couldn't remember anything else.

"My name is Zack… uh?" Usually whenever I introduce myself I always say my full name 'Zack Raines' yet I only said Zack and nothing else. I knew something was up with that, but I couldn't figure it out on what it was. "Y-yeah, that's my name." I had no memory of anything, except only my name 'Zack' that was the only thing I knew. Everything else was a complete blank; where I came from, my family if I had any, friends, enemies, or even why I was a white Dewott, all blank. A white Dewott with only a name and nothing else.

"Wowie, you must be a Pokemon from another region!" She giggled, examining my fur and looking into my eye. "Red pupils and black eyes… I have never seen a Dewott like you before, you must be pretty unique." I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I thanked her anyway, resting my head back on the small pillow as if to ease the already growing pain at my left eye. I had wondered how I ended up like this; washed up on the beach covered in cuts all over, my left eye hurting the worst out of all of the other injuries I had. _"I must've been in some kind of battle recently, maybe an accident at sea and lost my memories."_

Turning my head, curious as who it was that saved my life, I asked her. "So what's your name?"

The Oshawott smiled cutely and said "My name is Aqua; it's nice to meet you Zack." She smiled, and I smiled back. I was starting to like this Pokemon and thought we could get along well. Being in their hideout, this gang Aqua calls 'The Cruel One's' if they truly were as dangerous as she says they are, then we are going to need to help each other out especially if we want to escape with our lives.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter originally began in the gang's hideout with Aqua telling Zack how she found him unconscious on the beach and how they got there. She was in the first draft a member of the gang, a loner who hadn't interacted with the others as much.

**AN: Usually every chapter I type up has around minimum of 2 to max 10k words. But I promise the next chapter will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 2 Care

Chapter 02 - Care

* * *

**Castelia City – The Cruel One's Hideout – Medical**

An hour I had already been awake for and the pain throughout my body worsened, cuts reopening their wounds, a terrible headache, and with a dry and sore throat that felt with every breath I took shredded my insides. After waking to find Aqua, a female Oshawott with me, the same one who found me at the beach, no one had come inside to check in on us once. I did hear movement outside, but so far nothing yet but footsteps. I would've liked to have known why we were here, why did the Cruel One's bandaged me up and healed up some of the many wounds I had. Where were they, and what do they want from us?

"So you don't remember how you ended up washed ashore, your past or where you came from, but you only know your name?" Aqua asked in the chair next to my bed. We had talked about if I remembered anything else before Aqua found me on the beach, but I did not. Everything before that was just a huge blur and nothing else.

"Yeah, I don't even know how I ended up washed up on the beach covered in so many cuts." Nothing, no memories before I woke up on the beach, who I was or why I ended up like this? In that moment whilst lying on the bed staring up at the stained ceiling visible due to the hanging light bulb above me if anyone else I knew ended up washed ashore or where still in the water. Maybe someone I knew had been brought in by the Cruel One's just like I have. Someone who could provide me with answers about anything I wanted. "So Aqua, was that your home? You know the beach I got washed up on?"

Aqua shook her head. "No, I was just… um, passing by when I found you there." She paused briefly. "I live in this city with my parents… well; I used to live with them but not anymore…" She stared sadly at the floor in silence. Did she mean that being here meant that we were doomed to die, or was it something else. "This city is called Castelia City."

As soon as I heard the city's name, at the back of my head I heard a voice, a different one than to Aqua's repeating the city's name, but welcoming me I think to the city but slightly muffled on some of the words 'Welcome to Castelia City, joining the Sav- are we?' then all of a sudden I was jolted back to reality. "Zack? Zack are you alright?" Aqua asked, placing her paw on mine.

"Um… y-yeah, I thought I heard something…" I lied awkwardly, not knowing how I should handle this. It was a surprise to me, a voice I didn't know if was real or not welcoming me to this city, a voice I didn't recognize. I didn't think it would get me anywhere so I just remained quiet about it. "This city, what can you tell me about it?"

"Well it is a large city filled with many humans and trainer owned Pokemon. There are many gangs within this city; The Cruel One's is one of them, if not the most dangerous of gangs. I was told by my parents that this city have overall eleven gangs of wild Pokemon all controlling different sections, and each gang are all fighting for control of the city-" Aqua and I paused upon hearing a loud clanging noise outside the room we were in, but after that silence returned. "I don't know for sure if my parents meant this leader of the gang or not, but I was told she was a vicious and violent Pokemon once rumored to have killed twenty Pokemon all in one day to send a message to the rest of the city to say that she wasn't the kind of Pokemon to be messed around with during the first month of starting her own gang. But I don't know much about the landmarks or any other notable locations within this city or beyond it; I'm sorry, I wish I could give you more than just that."

Suddenly, the door of the room opened as two Pokemon entered the room, one with a lit candle in its paw; it was an elderly Audino followed by a Metagross. From the candles light, I could make out the other side of the room a lot better than it was in the darkness before. On the other side were many shelves full of boxes and boxes of what appeared to be used bandages and full boxes of empty syringes and bottles all with the 'Pokemon Center' written on the side. I knew what a Pokemon Center was, but I never had any images or past memories of being inside a Pokemon Center pop inside my head; talking to nurse joy about my Pokemon, my Pokemon with me, or anything that might've jolted my memories to reawaken, nothing.

"Ah, I see you are awake already." The Audino approached the bed, setting down the candle on a small coffee table near the side of my bed before placing a bag down at the foot of my bed with medical supplies inside. "Are you in a lot of pain right now? If so I have just the thing to help you." I nodded and allowed the Audino to heal me up; replacing bandages and patches with new ones that weren't soaked with blood from my cuts. The Audino applied some bottles of Potion on me, it didn't get rid of the pain completely, but it was better than nothing.

"I am Audino, I act as the gangs doctor." She greeted with a welcoming smile. "This here is Metagross, my assistant." Audino smiled at him as he grunted and walked off to the other side of the dark room carrying multiple boxes of medical waste. "Don't mind him, Metagross may look scary and act cold at times, but inside he is a cutie." She giggled and continued to clean my wounds starting with my left eye by undoing the patch.

"Is he going to make it? He's hurt really bad." Aqua asked as she leaned up on the bed, watching Audino closely as she applied some medicine onto my eyelid.

Audino nodded and lightly chuckled as she continued with her work. "He'll be just fine. Luckily the cuts weren't too deep, any deeper and you could have bled to death long before young Aqua here found you. However you do need plenty of rest if you want your cuts to heal up quickly." Audino had finished cleaning my wound on my left eye, but she didn't put on any patch this time. Her smile fell as she held up a mirror to my face, and there I saw not only the many cut on my face, from the huge three long scar across my left eyelid down to my cheek, but my left eye was gone. "When we found the two of you out there by the beach, your left eye had been sliced from the scratch you received by possibly another Pokemon of unknown kind. We had to remove your eye. I'm sorry…" Audino then inserted a glass eye into my left eye socket, a strange feeling and somewhat disturbing one since I could hear the squelching that followed as the glass eye slid through my eye lids and into the hollow space which once was occupied by my real eye, and then she put on an eye patch for me; a black fabric eye patch with a yellow outline to it. It was comfy, but a little tight at the strap digging into the back of my head.

"So what now?" I asked the Audino with caution. If the Cruel One's did hurt and kill trespassers, then why were they treating my wounds then? Why was this Audino being so nice to us? Maybe it was there way of keeping the prisoners alive and well so they can hurt their victims again until they get bored of them. That was my first thought on what they could've done. Aqua stood close to the bed after I asked that, staring intently at the Audino as if wanting to know what herself. "Now that you have brought us in, healed me, what do you intend to do with us?"

"To add you to our team of course." But it wasn't Audino that spoke; it was from another that entered the room after bursting the door wide open. Stepping into the light was a female Purrloin with her paws behind her back, stopping at the foot of the bed staring down at me with a bright welcoming smile similar to Audino's smile, but the Purrloin's smile was much wider looking as though she was happy to see me. "But first we had to take care of our injured guest being as you have already lost an eye and have been covered in so… many… scratches… b-blood…" Her voice trailed as she stared at my body, blushing the longer she stared. "So my Dewott guest, how are you feeling? Are they treating you well? Have you been fed and given plenty of water? You water types must like wat-"

"We shouldn't give them anything!" Snapped a male Buizel as he came into the light, readying his paws to attack us with a water type move at the ready. "They could be spies, they could be-" But the Buizel's argument was cut short by a loud smack from the Purrloin.

"They could need many things we don't know about!" She said to the Buizel, giving him a cold glare after she had slapped him across the face to silence him. "Medical as the Dewott needs you ignorant fool. Food, water, a place to sleep, security from the dangers of the outside. A Dewott this injured a spy you say? Hah, how ridiculous. He looks like he has been in battle recently. Oh and by the way Lucian-" She said to the Buizel smiling as she threatened him. "Interrupt me again, disobey my orders and you will meet your end quickly. So be a good little boy and rest up for the night. You'll want to be up and at 'em for tomorrow's feast." Lucian slowly nodded and walked back through the dark doorway but not before coldly glaring at both me and Aqua. Purrloin cleared her throat and turned to us (mostly towards me) and smiled. "You must forgive Lucian's untrustworthy attitude he has most of the time, he is like that with all potential recruits for our gang. Oh! W-where are my manners, my name is Purrloin, I am the leader of the gang most inhabitants of Castelia City have taken a liking to calling us 'The Cruel One's' because of our so-called aggressive nature and rebellion lifestyle we have going on over here, but once you get to know us, and I know soon you will, you will see that we are opposite of 'cruel' and accepting of those who have been cast out by the true 'Cruel One's' that have put us here; trainers who wanted this Pokemon rather than us, clans wanting so-called stronger Pokemon amongst their ranks, parents that want their young to succeed where they failed in life casting aside their troubled imperfect young so the other can reach for the top. So, might I ask what your name is?"

"My name's Zack. I don't know anything about my past before I ended up on the beach or how I ended up with these injuries. But this Oshawott found me on the beach, her name is Aqua." I said pointing over to Aqua. Purrloin followed my direction and her smile fell.

"Oh, the Oshawott is still here… I thought we already gotten rid of it." Purrloin said with a hint of disgust present in her tone of voice. I thought I had seen her scowl at Aqua for a moment. But I couldn't be sure because of my vision in my right eye faded in and out every now and again. Purrloin then walked over and stopped inches in front of Aqua with her arms crossed as she examined her from head to toe. "Let's see what we have here… adult Oshawott, perhaps around the same age as your Dewott companion." Purrloin leaned in and sniffed her head. "Definitely not the same scent as the other, so you two are not siblings or related to the other…Hmm… very well, I suppose you may serve use as target practice assistant or carrying boxes here and there." It was clear Purrloin didn't like Aqua, but the reason to it was unclear right now.

"Well, Zack; I wish you a speedy recovery. So rest until those wounds of yours are all healed up." She chuckled. "Also, whenever you are ready, feel free to come and talk to me about whether or not you want to stay with us. Everyone who does decide to stay will have a home here, we eat together, live all under the same building like a family, and we would love to have our loving family grow into a bigger but strong one." Purrloin smiled once more and turned to walk towards the large open door I could see from a candle someone was holding, watching it flicker in the dark hall outside before the door shut.

Audino waited as she heard Purrloin walk away, her footsteps echoing in the hallway, until it fell silent after hearing another door somewhere close, then Audino sighed. "Well, that was a relief…" Metagross approached her and placed one of his forelegs on top of her shoulder.

"It would seem Purrloin may have forgiven you after all." The aging Metagross chuckled, letting out a soft sigh. Audino sighed and touched his foreleg with her paw and smiled softly at him.

"Either that or she was trying to act 'nice' in front of her guests."

"What do you mean by that?"Aqua asked curious as to what Audino meant by 'forgiving' her. "Is she mad at you?"

Audino nodded her head. "Last week when Purrloin was injured, a small burn on her stomach. So of course I set her on the very same bed you are on Zack, applied her medicine only to realize that the Burn Heal wasn't working. So I applied them again and again, but until the eighth bottle… I then realized I had accidentally applied not Burn Heal, but antidote… eight bottles of Antidote used up."

"Never seen Purrloin that angry before and let her victim's live to see another day." Metagross quickly said, instantly grunted and shied away.

"She said I was senile and some other nasty words here and there I won't say on promise from my mate here to 'never again utter any other foul word ever again so help me I will never be your assistant'" She said in a deep voice at the last part, imitating Metagross' deep voice, only to further increase his shyness. "I guess we kinda got off easy because I'm the only medic within this gang. I know what you two are already thinking; why are we here? Well to answer that question is simple; we haven't got anywhere else to go." She turned to Metagross. "Purrloin took us in when we had nothing, no home, no food, no hope left. We were grateful to be taken in by at least someone." Turning to us with a smile, she clapped her paws together and said with a cheerful tone. "So as for you two, how about we fix you up with some good delicious food to fill you both up, hm?" We both nodded at that, food sounded more than good, I wasn't sure how long I had gone without any food. But looking at Aqua, it looked like she needed the food more than I did for how skinny she was.

Sitting up on the headboard of the bed after the two elderly Pokemon had left, Aqua turned to me and whispered. "What do you think? About this place I mean? I have heard about the rumors about this gang, about the leader mostly so seeing her up close… I just… I have a bad feeling about being here."

"Maybe things will seem better when we finally get out of this room." I said trying to adjust myself into a more comfortable position. "And besides, Purrloin did say we had a choice if we wanted to stay here or not. So until my wounds have been healed up, let's stick around and find out what the gang is really like. The two Pokemon seem nice, so maybe there are others like them here, Pokemon that can help give us a better understanding about this place. And my memory for one thing, I still don't know anything like where I came from or who I knew before I ended up on that beach. Maybe we could ask around and see if anyone here knows if anyone else was washed up ashore besides me."

"That may be, but we should be careful here nonetheless. Hey, how about I help you out on helping you recover your forgotten memories?" She said as she quickly leaned in close to me her paws resting on the sides of the bed, almost leaned on my right arm if she had moved a few more inches, an arm covered in so many unhealed wounds and bruises. "When we get a chance to go outside, I could show you around the city. Maybe you'll see something you might recognize in the city, or maybe you might see someone who knows who you are."

I agreed at that needing all the help I could get in order for me to recover my memories. That night, or whatever time if was inside this dark and windowless room I thought about what kind of Pokemon or humans I knew before any of this, but mostly on asking myself why I was like this all covered in so many cuts and having lost a left eye? Did someone attack me, like I was cast out or something? Leaving me for dead? Perhaps there were evil Pokemon or humans out there who had did this to me, searching for me still? So what if they were outside in this city called Castelia? I didn't know any moves and I would be wide open for an easy mark. I was worried about that, worried that if Aqua was with me in the city she could be targeted and hurt all trying to help me out. Maybe it would be best if I went out into the city alone and try to see if I can at least remember something instead of involving others. But Aqua knew this city, I didn't. If I got lost I may end up wandering down the wrong alley and found by some bad Pokemon or humans and that'll be it. If Aqua was with me she could help provide at least a quick navigation around the streets, she did grow up here.

I wasn't sure why Aqua wanted to help me recover my memories, maybe she didn't want to be alone while we were here in this gangs hideout, or perhaps she was just being friendly. But I was happy that she would be with me during our stay here with this gang until all of my wounds had healed up. We weren't sure what the others may be like, but we were happy to find out this together rather than alone. I wasn't sure how long it would take for my memories to come back to me, not knowing who needed me during my absence, those that mattered, I would only hope that they were alright.

To be continued...

* * *

**Trivia:**

This chapter introduced Purrloin way earlier than I had originally wanted to. She would be introduced as the leader 5 chapters into the story when Zack and Aqua were doing work at the hideout instead of at the start, angry that she was not informed about the two working there with them.


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome to our gang

AN:And here it is ya'll, the first chapter that isn't less than 5k words. i want to actually write future chapters with that amount rather than close to 2k since writers block can catch up to me quick as evidence at the last two previous chapters being so short. Well anyway, with that being said please enjoy the story. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 03 – Welcome to our gang

* * *

****

**The Cruel One's Hideout – Medical**

A dreamless sleep, but at least I awoke feeling much better than I did last night. My wounds, mostly in my left eye socket or the large scratch across my eye lids were feeling so much better than yesterdays throbbing pain almost nonstop, but moving around too much did sent jolts of pain running up at the back of my spine, clearly I wasn't quite healed and ready to move around just yet, but I was eager to get out there and discover who I was before I came here, to ask around if anyone else saw anyone there at the beach after me and Aqua were taken in.

It didn't take long for me to notice Aqua lying her head down on the bed next to me, this was our living condition for us here… or in Purrloin's case Aqua's, treating her as if she were insignificant. Yesterday when Audino and Metagross left the room to get ourselves some food for us, the elderly couple were approached shortly after by Purrloin and told to give me and Aqua certain foods; me with the most and better condition as to Aqua's small meal; an apple that looked okay, and a slice of bread with a tiny bit of mold around the edges, so we just shared my food and that was pretty much it, not a filling meal but it was better to have something inside us to get us through the night. We were locked up in here, the elderly Pokemon told us it was to do with not knowing if they the gang could trust or not, not wanting us to wander around or leave. But to me it felt as though we were prisoners in this place, I know Aqua didn't like this place from the moment she got here, we got here, she wanted to leave and so did I, not because I wanted to find out who I was, the answers may be out there somewhere but here, but I don't know why, but I wanted to keep her safe.

Aqua twitched before waking up immediately jolting right up looking around the room before she turned to me finally sighing sadly. "I… I thought being here was all just a bad dream, guess not… did you sleep well?"

"It was alright, my wounds feel a lot better today than what I was feeling yesterday." Looking towards where the door to this room was I could see there was still no light outside. "But I would've liked it if they gave us more light in here rather than a single hanging light bulb, maybe a window to get some fresh air in here at least. It feels like the air in here is all stuffy."

"And the medical waste at the other side of the room certainly isn't helping out the situation at all." She pointed over towards the other side of the room, the side where it was the darkest, a side full of so many things, mostly trash. I didn't notice it when I came to the day I awoke in this place, but when I was trying to get some sleep that night, that's when I noticed the vile scent. "I had to use the bed sheets to block out most of the smell trying to get some shut eye. I hope they let us out of here. Somewhere a lot better than this disgusting place. This is supposed to be for the sick and or injured? Being here will surely get you sick after what things they leave lying around."

Aqua's stomach growled, so did mine. After the small rations of food we were given during our time here; an apple, potato chips that did little to fill us up, a chocolate bar… that had been cut in half, a bag of cookies most a little stale… or maybe it was the brand… I don't know. Maybe it was the 'best' room they had to spare for us until they got us a new room? I was still injured and in the process of healing my wounds, so where else would they leave their injured? Maybe they're running low on rations and couldn't give us much. They are a gang fighting for control; after all we are strangers to them so they could but not showing it in front of us see us as gang members from another gang within the city. Either way, this was the living condition we were stuck in until they could trust us, see that we meant them no harm. Just a white Dewott with black and red eyes with nothing but his name remembered, and a shiny female Oshawott who had found him on the beach.

"So what moves do you know?" She asked me suddenly, breaking me out of my long pause. "Oh wait! You don't remember anything except your name… How stupid… well anyway, I only know the following moves and they are; Bite, Tail Whip… um yeah, that's about it so far. Self taught moves I had to learn when I was living on the streets with my parents."

"Your parents, tell me about them. What is it like on having parents?" It was a good conversation starter as any. Maybe after learning about her parents I might remember my own or a parental figure in my life I knew. Relearning ones lost memories might take a while to remember; from seeing something or listening to some music might spark a memory to life and I would learn something about it, a location or someone I know and try to find them. So I had to start with something.

"My parents were Oshawott's like me. We lived together somewhere in the center of the city I think. Maybe a little bit towards the southern part, near the beach. We lived in an alley populated by other Pokemon, wild Pokemon not formed in a gang, but all of us were still targeted by other gang members as what some would call us as 'target practice' for the real game. We all lived together like all of us were one big family, sharing food, medicines, and things to keep us warm and continuing on. I guess you could say we were all happy there while it lasted."

"What happened?"

"There was… a sickness going around that had taken many lives. a sickness which started with a sore throat, followed by a cough, tightening of the chest, headaches, and then they would cough up blood… then they would have only minutes left before they died." She sniffed, her paws started to shake a little. "I stayed with them, my parents until they died. Then I was alone. Everyone had died… then after that it was kind've all a blur to me wandering the city, then I found the beach, and then you." a tear had poured down her cheek. I didn't know what to do or how I should comfort her. I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what.

"When we arrived here, before I found you at the beach, I started to get a bad feeling that something is going to happen, something bad." She said, shaking her head from side to side in confusion. "I don't know why, but I feel as though it will happen soon. I have experienced something like this before; the sickness, my parents death, then I… call me crazy or um, but then I had a feeling something bad would happen to you."

"What do you mean?" I asked. She shook head not knowing the answer herself, or that was what she told me that is.

"Aqua, I know you hate it here, but…" I glanced at the door of the room for a moment thinking that I had just heard movement right outside. Then I turned directly to her. "As soon as I'm healed up, me and you will leave this place. I know you don't want to be here, but all I ask is for you to wait until then."

She wiped away at her tear and looked up at me with a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Really?"

All she told me was that she had a bad feeling about this place, but was unsure why. She started to get this feeling that something bad would happen soon, a day before she had found me continuing on a day later. Whatever it was I saw her start to shake a little in fear. Was it just a feeling she had? Was she always like this in new places? Anxiety or something like that. Or was it this gang she didn't like being with after hearing all of the rumors about this place and the gang of Pokemon? Maybe we would be better off here, safer in here than out there, a world I knew nothing about, but it was where I knew my memories would be found. I wasn't leaving just to reclaim my lost memories, but iw anted to leave and help Aqua find some place to be happy, because she clearly wasn't finding it here.

"Do you promise?" she asked.

"I promise."

"Okay." Aqua hummed happily to herself, a thought perhaps she might one day if not soon leave this city controlled by so many gangs of Pokemon to be free from it all, a place far from gangs, to see greenery that is the forests and rivers she could only imagine what they looked like. I didn't know how long it would take for a memory to help start us off on where we should look to help me rediscover who I once was.

The door of the room opened up shortly after, Audino had entered with a frustrated sigh as she walked up to my bed, a small cut on her left arm just above her elbow. "I'm sorry to tell you this, especially you Zack, but um… I know you are still in the process of healing, but I have been instructed to tell you that you and Aqua need to be shown around the hideout if you are going to stay with us. I tried to tell them that you couldn't move much because of your unhealed wounds, but they wouldn't listen. I'm sorry but you'll have to leave and come with me."

I struggled to get out f bed at first, wounds shifting, some reopening sending out the worst kinds of pain, I almost fell down on the floor if it weren't for Aqua lending me her shoulder for me to lean on until I regained balance again. I could still walk normally, no pain in doing that. But moving my arms, turning my head, or breathing hurt the most. The wounds took a lot out of me, I needed more rest. I just hoped that I wasn't out too long or doing anything to strain myself.

"Audino, what happened to your paw?" Aqua asked Audino as soon as we she reached for the door to open it for us, noticing three long scratch marks across her paw.

Audino opened the door and stepped through first. Outside the room where two Pokemon; a Rattata and a Vulpix watching us leave the room. "Oh that! Oh i-it's nothing, just… hurt myself when I was carrying around some heavy boxes."

"Yeah right!" I heard one of the other Pokemon laugh to the other, but Audino ignored them and guided us through the hideout. That wound Audino had wasn't an injury done by carrying heavy boxes; it looked as if she were attacked by a Pokemon of some sort. Was she attacked by one of the gang members here?

* * *

****

**Hideout – Waiting Room**

Audino told us to look around the first room and talk to the other gang members while she walked out to check on somewhere else. An easy enough task probably since most of the Pokemon in the room with us looked friendly, but then again looks aren't everything.

The ceilings despite the darkness had patches of wetness, an almost filled up bucket kept under the largest patch in the middle of the first room catching whatever drop it caught from the ceiling. All of the windows in the room were either bordered up with old wooden planks, concealed by pages torn out of newspapers. The only light source was from but a single dim light from a hanging ceiling light, well the only source of light that lit up the room far better than what the other candles in the room did. There were eight other Pokemon in here with us, most talking to each other, laughing, discussing their tasks for the day or what they had planned this afternoon. In the corner of the room was the Buizel known as Lucian reading from a small pieces of paper he held in his paw. A Noctowl talking with a Raticate about a storm approaching soon and are worried about going out in it as soon as they must go out on a supply run. Near the door we were still standing at, an Emolga with a female Pikachu I could hear talk about something going on somewhere outside of the city 'The Savior's are all dead apparently. Maybe a few strays here and there, but I don't see anyone else coming back into the light to fight back. I guess those groups of soldier's we saw near the forest the other day cleared them out after all.' The Emolga nodded slowly 'Figures. When I heard about this battle about to take place, looking at their small army against that other band of soldiers they were against, I had a feeling The Savior's would see their end soon enough.' I shrugged off on what they said seeing it was none of my business about who these 'The Savior' guys were, but if I knew that, about the group I worked with all gone… I would've done something.

And finally there in the other corner of the room were a group of three eeveelutions sitting gathered around in a circle around a lit candle; a female Leafeon, a male Umbreon, and a male Eevee. They looked friendly enough and weren't talking to one another, only observing the candle flickering by the Eevee blowing it lightly with his breath. All of them turned their heads towards us as we approached them, a look of caution by the Umbreon, but more friendly by the Leafeon. "Hello, my name is Aqua. This here is Zack. I guess you could say we are uh new recruits to this gang." Aqua was friendly, but her final words about being in the gang sounded drawn out. It was no secret she didn't want to be in this gang, or say she was joining them. But it would only be temporarily until I was healed up, healed enough for us to leave this place once I reclaim a lost memory that may serve to guide us on who I once was and search for it somewhere out there.

It was Leafeon who spoke first, sitting up before shifting a little bit further towards Umbreon providing us with space for me and Aqua to sit down and join them. "It's nice to meet you, Zack and Aqua. My name is Leafeon." She glanced at the little Eevee with a smile but with a stern tone of voice "The little one who I have told numerous times to stop playing with the candle is our son Eevee. The Umbreon here is my mate named Jolty. I know, I know, why is his name Jolty? Isn't that name commonly used with a Jolteon? When he was a young Eevee his parents had named him Jolty wanting him to evolve into a Jolteon when he was older. But to his family surprise he evolved into a Umbreon while defending his home from wild Pokemon with his siblings. Isn't that right Jolty?"

The Umbreon scoffed and turned his head away. "Yeah, then the selfish fools kicked me out of their precious Jolteon only clan! Why did you have to bring that up?"

"Because I am bringing it up because Pokemon have asked before about your name all asking 'why is he an Umbreon when his name sounds like it belongs to a Jolteon?' so instead of them saying that I would save the trouble and explain it to them. I didn't mention about your family abandoning you, I wasn't going to."

"Whatever…" He sighed, staring at the other gang members within the room with us, mostly towards Lucian with a look of caution, as if he were preparing to strike at them at any moment. Maybe he was just like that, or maybe he didn't trust them.

Leafeon sighed again and said "Well anyway, we heard Purrloin wants you to join the gang, that's why she has brought you out here despite your injuries. I'm surprised she did this and didn't wait until you were fully healed up."

"Are you three a part of Purrloin's gang?" Aqua asked. "What do you do here? If I may ask."

"Me and Jolty here clean up around the hideout. A twelve hour seven day a week job to earn enough bottle caps to purchase things we need or want."

"Bottle caps?" I asked, unsure if I heard that right. Bottle caps used as a payment? The Eevee smiled and showed off one of his bottle caps to us, holding it with both of its paws.

Leafeon chuckled and nodded. "Yes that's right. Eevee here earned that and more by helping out in the library today. Bottle caps are used as currency here so we can buy things from the hideout's store. You can earn bottle caps by finishing your job for the day, or helping out other members of the gang with some small task like helping them find an item they have lost recently offering a handful of caps to whoever finds them what they are looking for." She explained. "Some jobs here are easier than others but offer low payment while others although somewhat difficult offer massive payments. But rest assured, all jobs no matter how much you receive you'll always have enough after the day to buy some food for today and the next with a small amount leftover for you to save up on." That was good, at least we could save up on our uh… caps to buy ourselves better food and things we'd need. Leafeon seemed like a nice Pokemon to be around, her son the same. But for Umbreon, he was being protective of them, so maybe some other time we'll get to talk to him a lot more, but now we had to talk to the others.

"Anyway, it was nice meeting you, both of you." Aqua said as she got up, helping me up with her so we could do as Audino had asked of us and speak to as many Poekmon as we could before she returned, wanting to get to know everyone before settling down in here. "But Audino has told us to introduce ourselves to the rest of the gang before we settle here first."

Leafeon gave an understanding nod and smiled as she waved with her paw. "Goodbye Aqua, Zack, you stay okay?"

"Bye-bye!" The young Eevee waved with his paw, still waving as we walked away to one of the corners of the room while Umbreon carefully watched everyone else still with a cautious look in his eyes.

We then walked over to Lucian, but it was me who had talked to him and introduced ourselves instead of Aqua. There was something about the guy that I didn't like; I'm not sure what it was. "Oh, it's you two. I am not sure why Purrloin wants someone like you in this gang, but we are better off on not having you here. it was better without you." His stone cold expression, glaring constantly at us every time we were in the same room as him, the way he talked down to us. We were strangers in this hideout, so of course he would be cautious of us, but why the extreme hate towards us? "Whatever, I don't care what Purrloin has to say about you, or how much she wants you here. Better be careful around here. You could be involved in an 'accident' and then she'll pay attention to me again, fool!" He said as he shoved past us and headed out toward the door.

"What's his problem?" Aqua asked, still watching him as he pushed passed another Pokemon outside of the hallway with an angry grunt, ignoring the harsh words from the pushed Pokemon. "What did he mean by 'how much she wants us here?'" I shook my head, unsure of that myself? Maybe she just likes to… collect new recruits? That this was somehow rare I guess? I don't know.

With four Pokemon introduced with in the room out of eight, four more Pokemon to introduce ourselves to and all we needed to do was wait for Audino. Leafeon, Eevee and Jolty were easy enough to talk to. Lucian however wasn't, so we had hoped the other four Pokemon left to talk to would be nicer than, that this whole living in this hideout with this gang wouldn't be so bad if all Pokemon here weren't like Lucian. The next two Pokemon we spoke to were a Noctowl, twisting his neck trying to pop it despite the protests from the Raticate sitting beside him claiming he'll break his own neck.

"Ah, the Dewott with the memory loss has finally awoken." The Noctowl said, extending his wings out in celebration almost poking the Raticate in his eye with his wing. "Let us all hope for a speedy recovery of both psychical form and mentally."

"You must've been in a battle of a sort if you ended up like that." The Raticate said, a scratchy voice and yet a high pitched one, pointing at my eye patch with his paw. "The amount of blood Audino said you lost was a pretty good amount. Anymore and you might've died. Be lucky that your Oshawott friend was there at the time."

"Or unlucky on how you want to look at things with the scouting party finding you two and bringing you here back to the hideout since this gang doesn't exactly have a good reputation."

"Well I couldn't just leave him there cut up and bleeding out." Aqua said as she looked at me. "It was the right thing to do."

"Ah, kindess towards strangers in need. The very thing this world lacks of."

"Oh here we go…" sighed Raticate at the Noctowls speech he was about to give.

"You see, with kindness of strangers in this world is small. Rarely would anyone go out of their way to help another suffered or injured, against the vileness of the world. But in this dark world, I know one day we will all see the light gather in the darkness until together in unison it will rise up into something great. Mark my words; you'll all see that I was right all along. One day when I was but a young Hoot-Hoot, I was alone, suffering without anyone else to look my way, not caring for me that I was starving, cold and alone when I but needed comfort. My trainer never saw this and refused to listen to my cries, and yet I grew weaker by the day until I was cast out. Then Purrloin came into my life, held out her paw and offered me food, warm shelter, place where I could fit in amongst Pokemon like me. One day if not soon, there will be more like Purrloin to help others, strangers a paw in need."

Me and Aqua looked at each other after Noctowl's speech, then Raticate spoke up for us. "He get's like this after Purrloin brings in a new set of potential gang members recalling his day how he was taken in by Purrloin, a stranger in his life who gave him a home and such. And he always helps other Pokemon we don't know outside this gang, despite Purrloin's rules of not interacting with another outsider unless Purrloin says so."

"But the kindness of strangers must not go unused," He argued, again almost poking out Raticate's eye with his spread out wing. "If we ignore this then the darkness in this world would consume us all till we are no better than the darkness itself; a cruel, vicious thing we would be consumed and controlled by and the world would be nothing but a dark one. I would certainly not be a part of that, mark my words."

Pikachu and Emola were the last Pokemon in this room we spoke to last, talking about something else that had to do with hearing explosions somewhere up north of the Unova region, something I was told was the region where we are now, but what this explosion was, they didn't get too much into it since they both looked our way as soon as we were standing in front of them ready to introduce ourselves. "I see, so you two are named Zack and Aqua…" said the female Emolga with a dry but monotone like voice, almost as if she were tired or something, or uninterested, whatever your take on it. "Purrloin sure does like collecting them whenever she wants. Do you think she is really planning on starting a war on the other gangs?" she asked the Pikachu, nodding at her question.

"Could be. With over thirty of us she does have more than at least two gangs within the city, maybe a little more than the gang near the center of the city, but as for the other two… it is not about numbers it is all about strength."

"Ah, I see. A few of us in this gang can't fight that well." Pikachu said glancing over her shoulder at Leafeon and her family. "Just look at her, she can't fight all that well, same goes for the little brat. But her mate on the other hand…" She whistled. "He can fight well, but his anger gets the best of him as well as his family he constantly stays with at all times. Prying him away from them will be difficult if we do start this war."

"Not only that, but we still have to train everyone before we begin. I'm a little rusty on the battling, haven't used a move to fight in so long I almost forgot how to use Astonish."

"Phew… I thought I was the only one to be a little rusty in battles." The Pikachu sighed, leaning her shoulder on the wall as she talked. "We could train tomorrow in the courtyard if you are interested? I heard Lucario is going to be there." She teased, causing the Emolga to blush and push Pikachu playfully.

"Oh stop, we are not a couple!"

"Then why are you blushing then?" The Pikachu pushed back playfully.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Not!"

"Are too times one million!"

"Not times a billion plus one!"

"Are times infinity! So hah!"

Again I looked at Aqua, and she looked at me. It would seem we were ignored and they had started to talk about other topics and not involving us in any of them. So with everyone in the room talked to me and Aqua walked over to the wall nearest the door where Audino had walked out of and decided to wait for her to return.

"There sure are um, an interesting gang, don't you think?" Aqua asked, leaning on the wall beside me as we waited, glancing back and forth at the other Pokemon in the room still talking amongst themselves, or an Eevee refusing to listen to his mother on not blowing out the lit candle. 'Over thirty of us' is what the Pikachu said, so we obviously weren't done seeing the rest of the gang, but so far they seemed okay.

"They're alright. But we have yet to see the rest of this gang to know for sure."

"Leafeon and her family are nice; maybe we could talk to them more often." She said watching the Eevee again despite his mother's arguments for him to stop; he continued to blow lightly at the flame. "Maybe Noctowl and Raticate, maybe we could talk to them as well. And perhaps maybe Audino and Metagross if they are not too busy."

"Zack, how are you feeling?" Aqua asked, probably noticed me wince a little after adjusting my position against this wall to a more comfortable one trying not to lean on my wounds.

"I'm in pain still. But what they could've done was to sit me in a chair or a wheelchair. Or at least wait until I had healed up more than a day on being here." At first I thought it was Audino's idea to have us leave the medical room and explore the base and interact with the others, a way on us getting some fresh air away from the medical waste inside that room, but then I remembered her cut she had on her arm, and the comment one of the Pokemon guards outside our room after Audino told us that she cut it whilst carrying some heavy boxes with a 'yeah right' before laughing immediately after. "Hey Aqua, do you remember that cut Audino had on her arm when she open the door before we left? I have been thinking about it, but do you think she was forced to bring us out here?"

"Yeah, I remember it." She nodded her head. "She did sound unhappy about the idea of you out of bed already, despite your wounds not being healed yet. Maybe she was I don't know… punished?"

At that moment, Audino appeared at the door and walked slowly to us, again with he same expression she had on her face when we saw her this morning. "I-I'm supposed to show you two the rest of the hideout. Only places I can take you two for now until we get everything ready for you two join us. I'm sorry; I tried to get them to ask for another day at this. Impatient fools…" she muttered that last part, but shook her head and gestured for us to follow her. And so we did, Audino showed us around the hideout and a small amount of the gang members since most of them were out patrolling the surrounding area and off on supply runs, so we didn't meet anyone new besides one or two Pokemon who did nothing but stare at us as we walked around the corridors from room to room. The hideout was once an old Pokemon Center from thirty years ago closed down due to some fire, an arson attack by humans. So the people of the city boarded it up and left it to be forgotten, hidden in the southern part of the city were hardly anyone goes, except for wild Pokemon living within the city. it was the largest Pokemon Center at the time within Unova, thirty different rooms for trainers to sleep in while their Pokemon healed up for the night, or in this gangs case were their new rooms for them to live in. A large dining hall where Purrloin liked to dine with her other gang members for a feast on special occasions, a feast all food served up and which usually would be a lot of food would be free of charge. The cafeteria which acted now as a shop were Pokemon would get their food, water, supplies and other goods like books and comfy beds and pillows for their new rooms. There was also a library… a rather small library that could only hold five book shelves willed with old worn and yellow paged books on them, and a single chair in the corner of a dim lighted room.

And that was really about it for the interior of the hideout we could look around. After the tour had ended, Audino brought us back to the waiting room of the hideout only to find it without Leafeon, Jolty, Eevee or anyone inside. Expecting Audino to give us the run down on where we could go and couldn't go at certain times, she instead told us, I mean me to go to Purrloin where she was preparing something for me. "What do you mean? Why does she want to see me?" I asked, sounding confused and just a little bit nervous about whatever it was she was preparing.

She shook her head, again with a sigh. "I don't know for sure, but she only wants to see you Zack. I'll have someone take you to her room while I take Aqua back to the medical room and fix the two of you up for some nice food. Come Aqua, let's go back." Audino said as she walked towards the doorway while Aqua followed, but when she reached the doorway herself, she looked back at me for a moment before quickly following after Audino while I waited here to be escorted to Purrloin's room for… something.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Purrloin's Room**

I did as I was told to do; wait out in the corridor for Purrloin to finish preparing something in her room first before I would be called in for something. Outside with me were two Rhyhorn's standing near the door to Purrloin's room starring at me in silence while I waited. I stood there wondering to myself what Purrloin was setting up for me in her room. I couldn't hear anything much from the other side of the room, only something creaking and water or some other liquid pouring into something. "Why did Purrloin only want me to come and meet her in her room?" I thought as I stood there feeling my wounds mostly on my chest start to sting really bad. I had been here for almost an hour now finding myself becoming uneasy to regain balance for how weak I had felt. I still needed rest; it was way too early for me to be up like this. But I suppose this gang doesn't seem to care…

I guess the pain in my wounds took its toll on me, I had found it uneasy for me to balance myself and stumbled back a little, but quickly regained balance by gripping my paws on the wall, stumbling near to Purrloin's door, something which the Rhyhorn's didn't take well.

"Hey! What the heck do you think you are doing Dewott?!" Spat one of the Rhyhorn's, stomping its foot onto the ground causing it to shake a little. "Tryin' to have a little sneak peek inside the boss' room are we? Ain't gonna happen bub! Not while we're here!"

"You better not do anything stupid whilst you are in there, Dewott! You keep that Scalchop attached to your fur, otherwise we'll come in and crush ya damn head!"Grunted a Rhyhorn loudly, sitting patiently with another just outside Purrloin's room. The other Rhyhorn sitting next to him chuckled, opening his mouth soon after. And as if on cue, the door opened and out came Purrloin marching right in front of the both of them with her paws on her hips.

"I don't like it when my gang members threaten each other, or worse cause great harm to them when we all live together like a massive big happy family. So shut up, sit tight, and I will call you if I need you! So I want you both to apologize to your ally here amongst my gang. Or don't you want to be paid this week?" She glared at them; they both cowered at her approach, like a powerful Pokemon had cornered them, a Pokemon so powerful that together they wouldn't even stand a chance. That was what I saw with everyone when it came to Purrloin, whenever someone questioned her or gone out of line, she would approach them and they would all back down. How did Purrloin ever get this much control over all of them like that? Why where they afraid of her?

The Rhyhorn's both looked at each other briefly before they at the same time got down and bowed and said in unison. "We are sorry, please forgive us Dewott-"

"-Zack! His name is Zack!" She corrected them, watching their apology with a smile.

"Please forgive us Zack; we are sorry it'll never happen again, we swear!" Before I could say anything, Purrloin scoffed at them and demanded them while holding up a paw gesturing for them to stand.

"Now get up, you two look so silly on the ground like that." She sang in a sing song voice, with a hint of anger as she held my paw with hers and pulled me into her room, scowling one last time at her bodyguards slamming the door behind her.

Unlike the other rooms of this hideout, a dark strained wall and floor room covered in wet patches and crumbling walls and broken down furniture, rooms lit by a single dim light bulb, this room was the brightest and colorful out of any other room I had been in before. The room like the others had only one light bulb, but this wasn't dim, it was bright, the only thing needed to illuminate everywhere of this small room. The floor was covered in a black carpet, a nice feel to my feet instead of the small bits of stones to walk on like the other parts of this hideout. The walls were covered in purple wallpaper with pictures of flowers on them. A large purple bed with a set of soft looking white pillows. And there in the center were a small circular table with two child sized chairs set up. There weren't any windows in this room, something she said she liked about it because she wanted protection against whatever or whoever was trying to kill her or cause harm to her, a rival gang member most likely.

The food Purrloin served on the table were one cup noodles each, vegetarian of some kind; served with a side of freshly baked bread and a glass of a drink she said it was called red wine. I had never tried wine even before I lost my memories, so this was new. It wasn't bad, and neither was this meal or the company so far. Well, she never spoke much and only ate the food in silence, glancing up at me every so often but looking away when I noticed.

"I'm sorry Zack, for leaving you out there for so long." She chuckled awkwardly, setting aside her food. "I was just trying to make things perfect while I welcomed you to the gang. You must be starving after all of the food you have been getting recently. And to neglect you more than I have, I left you out there standing until I was done preparing all of this food for you while you were still in the process of healing. I wanted to surprise you, but I wasn't thinking. Just so we are clear Zack, from now until you are fully healed I or anyone else will not force you out of bed. So rest and relax knowing you will be healed and granted a lot of food to keep up your strength you most definitely need."

I nodded my head. Pleased to here I would finally get some more food in me while I was still here. But then I was curious, wanting to know myself what this gang actually did, what this so-called war that was about o take place with another gang was about. What if we were in danger here? Me and Aqua might get caught in the crossfire if anything were to happen, so I to ask, "Purrloin, is there upcoming battle soon?"

She tiled her head to the side, her eyes narrowed. "Huh? A battle?"

I didn't want to throw names around or describe any Pokemon here in the gang, still unsure how they would handle being told by Purrloin that I told her about me hearing about an upcoming battle soon might spark an argument or that I was some kind of snitch. "I uh, I overheard some Pokemon, not sure which talk about an upcoming war soon with a few gangs within the city"

"Oh that, well you see it's uh, well it's kind of difficult to explain. There have been tensions with certain gangs and we have all had our ups and downs every week or two. But nothing serious like murder or injuries to anyone, just arguments that turn into walking away by the end of it."

"You see, Every gang is fighting for control over the city all wanting different things; control using fear, dominance over the other, or in my way to greet all Pokemon with open arms. I want to reach out by taking in Pokemon that have either been cast out by another clan, abandoned by their trainer, we want to give them a chance. That is what we do here. We don't hurt any newcomer that enters our territory despite these so-called rumors I am sure you have heard by now from the others being cruel and such. But I assure you, these rumors are just tales to scare Pokemon and nothing more." She said all of that with a smile, but 'hurting newcomers' wasn't true, Aqua was hurt when she was brought in. They knocked her out by bashing her at the back of her head.

"So since you are injured and unable to move much, I'll help you out with food and other stuff you might need. All of us here at the hideout work to earn food, water or other needs." She held up her plate of food as well as her glass of wine with her paws. "No one here is given free food; we have to work for it including me. But since you are our new guest I made the exception." Her paw moved from her fork and brushed her fingers on my paw. I was confused by this sudden touch from her and didn't know how to respond to it. So I let her keep her paw on top of mine. "Because for two reasons, the first being is that you are all injured from head to toe, like you have just come out of a battle… a strong warrior you must've been. Especially for someone to survive with all of those… injuries…" her voice trailed off. She licked her lips as her ears drooped. Quickly she shook her head and composed herself and withdrew her paw from mine noticing my blood was on her fingers. "But after you are all healthy and have regained your strength back you will have to find a job here if you want to eat and stay alive that is. If I continued to give you food for free all of the time then the others might get jealous, it might cause arguments. I don't want things like that happening or to escalate into fighting where someone may get hurt."

"What kind of jobs do you do here?" I asked, curious at what this gang really does. Not only I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I wanted to check whether or not this place was at least safe enough for Aqua.

Purrloin leaned in her chair and smiled with glee. Perhaps she was waiting all of this time for me to ask her for how her sudden expression turned from a relaxed smile to one of a broad smile giggling every now and then. "I'm glad you asked. Here at the gang you can do so many things if you have the right skill for it. Moving boxes is an easy job anyone can do here, followed by cleanup; dining rooms, taking out the trash, and other stuff that may need to be handled with before bad virus' and other vile stuff become a problem. Some jobs pay less than others, but the higher payment positions go towards the ones with the most risk involved. Jobs like supply runs, guarding the parameter eight hours a day, or… maybe be my bodyguard?" Purrloin blushed as she finished that last part. Yep, she was hitting on me, and again I didn't know how to respond. She was the leader of the gang and I didn't want to anger her or upset her in anyway. I didn't want to blow our chances and end up on the streets without having on learning anything about where I came from first. I needed something to go on to help me in my search for my lost memories. 'Maybe she was testing me? Or she just had a crush on me.' I thought watching as her blush intense around her cheeks.

"I wouldn't be useful as a bodyguard in my state. How about helping out with carrying the boxes here and there? Some light work, if anything to help out."

She paused for a moment before finally nodding slowly. "I suppose you are right about that. We wouldn't want you to reopen a wound or two resulting in you being unable to move or worse. So it is settled, as soon as you are able, you can help out in storage by unloading boxes from the supply runs we send out twice a week. It's small pay, but should be 'light' in what you are looking for, so relax during your time of healing up knowing that once you are ready to work, the work will be easy enough for you to accomplish without straining yourself too much."

I smiled and nodded at that, it was a good thing to hear. I wanted to stay in this gang on temporarily until I remember more things about my past so then I can leave this place to uncover more, if not find others I knew and life may return to normal again. But I noticed something, out of all of this time Purrloin had only mentioned me working, never Aqua. What was she going to do here? Was she even accepted in this gang? Is that why she wasn't invited to this dinner? "But what about Aqua, what's going to happen to her?"

Purrloin looked at me with a confused look, moving her eyes up at the ceiling in deep thought before responding. "Aqua? Who is- oh! It's the shiny Oshawott." She sighed, rolling her eyes before turning to me with a smile on her face. "I guess she is okay to stay here as long as she wants. She can do a job by moving some boxes down in storage here and there. But enough about the Oshawott, let's talk about you- I mean, how does this hideout suit you? Are the Pokemon here treating you well? Did you make any new friends out there? Perhaps you rediscovered a little memory or two during your tour around the hideout?"

I shook my head. "Nothing yet. All I know is my name and nothing else. It's all a huge blur in my head whenever I try to remember stuff about my past, my friends, my family if I had any, where I came from, or why I ended up on that beach injured all over and lost an eye…" I felt myself growing more and more tired all of a sudden. I needed to rest, and Purrloin saw this and shook her head with a small but seemingly sad smile.

"I see. Well you look tired, so I won't keep you up any longer." She said standing up from her chair and helping me up from mine and guided me towards the door… but oddly leaning me towards her own bed. "So you go to sleep knowing whenever you want you can always ask for some medication to help ease the pain or food to eat. My payments will help you but only when you are fit to move and to work. We'll prepare you and the Oshawott friend of yours a room for the both of you to live in."

"Thank you for the meal. And thank you for taking us in." I said with friendly, and she smiled back opening up the door and pulling it open. The Rhyhorn's where still there, standing still like statues but watching as I left with narrowed eyes, but quickly turned away as soon as Purrloin stood at the doorframe.

"Come back any time, Zack." Purrloin called out form her room as I walked with a limp back to the medical room where Aqua would be in.

With the door to her room closed, Purrloin was left alone inside her room starring at the door for a long time, minutes, hours… who knows before letting out a small giggle that echoed the room. "Zack…hmm, all I have got to do is to try and seduce him, but how?" She asked herself, pacing in circles around the room, growing a little dizzy the more she walked. "I could talk to him… oh, but he doesn't know who he is and I'll have to talk about myself… how boring… how dull that I have to speak to him about my tragic past of abandonment and such dreary sadness!" Purrloin stopped all of a sudden, staring at the wall near the room's door. It was something she did many times whenever she was alone, similar things where she would say and do nothing but stare constantly in one direction for minutes, hours even. She wasn't… functional somewhere in the head… um, yeah I could've phrased that better, but uh, just go with it for now. A wicked smile appeared on her face as a thought came to mind, a thought about how the gang should be controlled with another and not alone like how she had done years prior. She had tried multiple times with other suitors, but most failed to meet her expectations resulting in a quick death before she could have fun with either of them. "The Oshawott… hmm, Zack seems to care for it… maybe I could… give it a job… a job it may get hurt in!" Purrloin trailed off, giggling in between each word she barked out uncontrollably. "No memory he has of his past… could've been a strong fighter, he might help me gain control over this cesspool of a city… screw his injuries, I'll morph him into a fighter in no time!" She laughed one final time before retiring for the night. A plan set in motion that would soon change things to come. Plans which would soon make us enemies.

To be continued...

**Trivia:**

**Zack was supposed to remember more about his life after he ended up injured at the beach, a memory that may serve to guide him on who he was.**


	4. Chapter 4 Out of the City

Chapter 04 – Out of the City

* * *

****

**The Cruel One's Hideout – Storage Room – A week later**

It was the second day of my job here at the hideout lifting light to medium weight small boxes from one side of the large room onto a shelf for the other Pokemon to collect and bring it back inside for them to unload the contents; food, medical and other things. Five days ago I could barely lift up any of these boxes, but now after rest and regaining my strength back, I felt refreshed, I was back on my feet again to start on working to earn myself food and new bed sheets and pillows for the new bed we would be getting for the new room. Purrloin had helped us get a room for both me and Aqua to live in together, throwing in a few bottle caps for us to spend on stuff to trade for a new room.

Speaking of Aqua, Aqua works in the medical room with Audino as her apprentice assistant helping her by carrying medical supplies, getting potions and bandages ready for whenever a new patient arrives, which was sometimes every day. Several Pokemon had been attacked by other Pokemon while out on the supply run, a run which was said by Purrloin that would see the end for another supply run for a month's worth of food, a run which ended with everyone on the supply run injured, but nothing collected.

Purrloin had been in her room most days staying up late at night hunched over a map of the city trying to figure out which gang had planned the attack. The only clue she was given was that most of the Pokemon that attacked her gang members were flying types. The only gang that was filled with flying type Pokemon were a gang within the northwest section of the city just near Route 4, where the supply run was taken place. We were running low on supplies, mostly food. That supply run was something we needed, and time was running out for all of us. But Purrloin always found a way to get what she wanted somehow.

"And besides, I thought we were all friends. It isn't like him to do this." said Pellet, a male Swanna and one of the few who worked at the storage section of the hideout, carrying filled boxes with me, a Bulbasaur carrying multiple boxes at a time with his vines, and a female Alolan Vulpix named Phoenix. Today it was just the four of us, it would've been more if the supply run had of been successful, and the place would've been rowdier, busier, but today was a quiet start of the day, a somewhat easier job for all of us. Soon we could finish up early and spend the day with our friends, or for me resting up more before getting my wound cleaned up. They had healed up nicely, but they would scars. "What do you think Zack? Do you think Bidoof really did set them up?" He asked as he stopped working.

There was this Bidoof who worked alongside with us. Ever since the supply run had failed, Purrloin had suspected the attack might have been planned, so she interrogated everyone soon after everyone was healed up. All Pokemon she interrogated talked to her; they told her the truth not knowing there would be an attack. But back at the storage, Bidoof said something different to what the others were saying; he said 'I just felt something was going to happen today.' And hearing that from Bidoof made Purrloin accuse him for the attack, calling him a traitor and demanding to know why he did what he did . For about a month, before I came here had been acting off in a way, talking about his home west of the city and wanting to see it again, even on some occasions sitting out in the courtyard at night and watching the stars for hours. And then Bidoof would purchase rope, a backpack, and a lot of food, and on a few occasions some saw him with a pair of scissors, and a spoon, something everyone thought was strange since Bidoof had never done anything like that before. He had always before ate with his friends, never storing food away in his room claiming that 'others might steal them, so what's the point?' or stole anything knowing the consequences of doing so under Purrloin's watch. I didn't him that well, but to me he didn't seem like the kind of Pokemon who would plan an attack like that.

"Maybe Purrloin assumed he was the one who initiated the attack all because Bidoof had a feeling something bad would happen. But I don't know him that well… uh, sorry." I said loading a larger box than me on top of a cart ready to be pushed into the next room for the others to collect.

"But why was he hoarding all of that food and rope in his room? He doesn't do things like that." Pellet sighed. "I have known Bidoof for two years now. I consider him a good friend, someone who I would gladly have at my back to help me fight off these idiots in this…" He paused, turned around and searched for anyone who might've heard him say the last thing a lot of the Pokemon at the gang feared of saying, feared Purrloin or Lucian would hear. "…stupid and vile hideout. 'Oh, this gang isn't as cruel as they say, it is a good and kind place for Pokemon who have been abandoned. A place you'll feel welcomed and safe at.'" He mimicked Purrloin, earning a few chuckles out of the other Pokemon. He shook his head and continued to work in silence, angry but silent.

"Maybe the reason for Bidoof having all of that stuff in his room was to leave for a while, that he was just homesick? That maybe Bidoof was hoping for Purrloin to grant him permission for him to leave the hideout." Bulbasaur suggested as he finished with the boxes he had to store on the carts to be pushed out by another team.

"Of course he's homesick, most of us are. You know we can't leave… maybe he thought he had a chance at it. But I suppose he just said the wrong thing that day." Phoenix sighed, pushing the box slowly toward the cart. I wondered about that, what did Phoenix mean by 'we can't leave'? Was something keeping them here? Everyone else seemed okay on being here, well apart from the harsher Pokemon I had seen from five or so Pokemon who worked as the security around here, treating other Pokemon as lesser forms of life, from stealing, cutting in line, and a fight broken up by Purrloin. What was stopping everyone from leaving? Why couldn't anyone leave the base?

"Being cooped up in here for so long would cause anyone to crack. Without seeing something else other than an old decaying building than grass…" Bulbasaur sighed, a smile formed as he starred at the metallic floor. "Do any of you remember the feeling of it? To me it felt like… soft plastic. That's what i… remember that is. Or maybe it was from touching that fake grass over in the trash compartment… I miss grass."

"You know, I'm just gonna say it right now, I don't care what anyone else says, but I do not believe Bidoof was involved with that attack. Wanna know why?" She asked, finally finishing up her work for the day. "It's because Bidoof was somewhat of a… uh open minded character here, not trying to insult him or be rude about it, but he kinda did talk like that, speak his mind a lot. He was always saying stuff you normally shouldn't in conversations or sometimes laughing inappropriately at what isn't a funny situation, he was just like that. A little bit clumsy here and there, not some grand scheming evil Pokemon Purrloin and a few others around here has portrayed him as. And for the food, perhaps he was having a crisis of some kind, bored maybe. Lucian did yell at him a few weeks back, pushed around a bit before we got to him and pushed him away."

"That's gotta be it. Purrloin will soon release him and everything can be as it once was." Pellet said as he picked up the last box and put it down on the cart amongst the others ready to be taken away. But he paused and looked over at the door for a moment before asking. "Or if… do you guys think he's okay? You know what Purrloin does to… to traitors…"

The group including I looked at one another. Was Purrloin going to kill him? Was that a strong enough reason for Purrloin to believe Bidoof betrayed them? Pheonix answered for them. "Purrloin would interrogate him first, not questions like 'why' or 'how long' but asks who did it so she can target them next in retaliation for messing up her supply run. I'm guessing it'll take a few days, give it less if Bidoof only answers with 'I'm not a traitor' or 'I didn't do anything' resulting in her getting irritated at his responses, then possibly killing him personally."

"How about we speak to Purrloin ourselves? We talk to her and try to convince Purrloin that Bidoof didn't do anything, that he isn't a traitor!" Bulbasaur suggested to them, hoping for the rest of them to agree on his idea, smiling with hope that they could save their friend. "We'll just tell her that Bidoof was just saying stupid things like usual and didn't really know what he was saying, she knows he does something like that most days. She'll have to see that Bidoof was just being the same goofy Bidoof we all know him as. He's just a kid, surely she'll see this and let him go." Everyone was silent as they looked at one another, but Bulbasaur didn't let up, he had to say more to convince his friends that they still had a chance to save Bidoof. "Once we are done here, we can march all the way over to the interrogation room and make Purrloin listen to us."

"Hey!" A voice echoed loudly from the doorway, a familiar one, an angry one, one all of us knew well but not in a happy way. It was Lucian, starring at us all with a bitter look in his eyes, almost repulsed by just looking at us. "Why are you four just standing around and talking? This is no time for you to be taking breaks! You still have a lot of work to do around here!"

"Oh great, here comes the fun police!" Bulbasaur sarcastically said loud enough for Lucian to hear, the others nodded and some giggled at that

"Why are you all doing nothing when there is work to be done?!" He shouted, marching as he stood in front of us all by a few feet. "There are is so much dirt and trash all over this place! So clean it all up you lazy idiots!"

"We can only do so much at a time, you know." Phoenix scoffed as she flicked her tail. "We were just getting to that, so why don't you leave us be and let us work. You're so annoying…" she uttered that last part quietly to herself, but Lucian heard this and didn't take it too well, clenching both paws tightly.

"I'm sorry; did you just say something to me?" Lucian spat as he walked a little bit closer to Phoenix, glaring at her more than at us. "I am not your chum, your buddy, or some casual idiot Pokemon here in this gang! I am a higher rank than you! So don't you speak to me like that ever again! Who do you think you are talking to? I am your boss, so apologize!"

Phoenix rolled her eyes and turned her head away from Lucian. "I won't ever apologize to the likes of you! And yes, I was speaking to you, you stupid idiot. Treating others like they are nothing but something to kick around, treating other Pokemon like myself badly when they have never done anything to hurt you, you low life. You are nothing but a pet Purrloin likes to kick around!" Phoenix shrugged casually and turned away from him to continue finishing off her work. "So go on and crawl back to your mistress, it's probably your nap time anyway."

"You little! How dare you speak to me like that!" Lucian growled and walked over to Phoenix and grabbed her by her tail with his other paw raised to strike her, or at least he would've done if it weren't for Bulbasaur holding him back with his vines, quickly wrapping around his arms. "Grrr! Get off me you idiot- Gah!" Lucian winced as the vines tightened around his arms.

"Play times over, Lucian. Why don't you get out of here and leaves us be?" Bulbasaur said, pulling him back with his vines towards the door. "You ever touch one of us again; I'll break your scrawny little neck." Bulbasaur tightened his vines again around lucian's arms. Lucian nodded and Bulbasaur slowly released the vines off of him, but he didn't retract them, he kept them just a little bit behind him should he try and attack Phoenix or anyone else.

Lucian scoffed and touching with his paw just over where the vines had gripped him. "I want a volunteer to come and assist me on a mission. You won't get paid extra for this or any rewards. One of you either does it or no one gets paid at all this week. The job is outside of the city; I need someone to come with me and help investigate the area where the attack happened."

"I'll do it." Pellet said as he took a step forward closer, closer to Phoenix that is taking a protective stance as he stood in front of Lucian. "I have finished up here; I haven't got any more tasks for the day."

"Not you." Lucian growled at Pellet, but stopped as he noticed Bulbasaur raising both vines a little higher. "Ever since the traitor Bidoof's attack and you all work with him, the boss has come to the conclusion that there may be others within the gang that had betrayed her, working alongside the rival gang members of the city. Pokemon close to him, Pokemon like all of you. Traitors within our walls!"

"What? You think we are traitors?" Pellet questioned, letting out a little chuckle of amusement, but Lucian still glared at them all, including me. "Bidoof is not a trait-"

"Shut up!" He yelled. "Bidoof is as guilty as they come. I knew from the moment he first came here to our gang that something was wrong with him. Not his weird messed up head of his, but how he watched us, talked to all of us and why we are here. He was a spy set up by our rivals talking to them somehow to mess with us. And I know there is someone else amongst us that is a slimy traitor. You, you, or this stupid grass type!" He barked, pointing at everyone with his paw, turning to me and glared. "So I guess the position will have to go to the Dewott then."

"He isn't capable on travelling that far yet. He is still in the process of healing his wounds will open up again." Pellet stepped forward, placing his wing on Lucian's shoulder as he spoke. "The attack on route 4 just happened. Zack doesn't know any moves, and if you two are attacked, he won't be able to defend himself. I am more than capable on holding my own against all kinds of foes, plus I can be on the lookout for any enemies we may encounter from up above. And besides, what would Purrloin say about-"

Lucian shoved Pellet's wing off of him. "Everyone else was busy or unavailable. I was ordered to find someone to help that wasn't seen as suspicious by the boss. So the Dewott is chosen then." Lucian turned to me and pointed at me with his paw, his eyes narrowed, and spat out. "I don't care if he is still in the process of recovery! He's working ain't he? No injuries so far? Then he's fine. So get ready to leave in five minutes, or you can all kiss your bottle caps goodbye!"

All of us watched as he stormed off out of the room before knocking a few empty cans off a shelf near the door with his paw. Everyone else started to clean up the mess on the floor as well as Lucian's mess he made. I didn't leave right away; I stayed and helped clean up with them before leaving to find Lucian. Lucian saw them as nothing but traitors and treated them as such. Route 4, somewhere outside the city was all I was told. Before, I had little memory of what the outside of this hideout was like since I woke up on that beach, having seen little to no view on the sky, tall buildings or anything outside of this place, so knowing that I would be going out there, I was anxious about going, but eager to see what the city and beyond was like. Perhaps a memory may come back to me and I could remember more about myself; who I was, where I came from. But looking down at my stitches still in the process of healing still, I was in no condition to be going that far this soon, give me a week and I'll be fine for heavy work if I could.

* * *

****

**Castelia City and Route 04**

Walking through the streets of a city I many times in the past walked down, passing so many stores and cafes each with their own memory with friends during my time as a member of the Savior's, memories I hold dear, but now walking down the street it was like this was my first time being here.

The unlit neon signs and posters I saw on a variety of different stores and cafes we passed brought nothing to me, no memories or any feeling towards them. The streets were latterly empty, aside from a staff member or two outside their property cleaning up outside or closing up. I was told that not too long ago, groups of soldier's attacked the city, mostly a building somewhere south west of the city, a building called 'The Savior's HQ' killing most of people inside and throwing a small amount in trucks to be taken off somewhere.

Before my memory was taken from me, me and my friends fought this group known as Team Doom lead by a vicious Pokemon named Shiny Latias who killed my mom. Team Doom was started up by a man named Juro, leader of the shut down organization known as Team Annihilation. Juro created Team Doom as a backup should Annihilation fall or him dead by the hands of the enemy. I worked with the Savior's ever since I was fourteen; I was with them for five years helping people from around the region from gangs or bad people from hurting others. A five year job of going to and from different regions, making friends here and there, plus making enemies as well, while helping others in need of help. But soon the past would find its way of coming back.

With Juro dead, Shiny Latias started up Team Doom and created her own army to help take control over the region, but to do that she needed something else. They were known as the Team Doom Eight, humans turned into Pokemon by the Doom serum turning them not only into Pokemon, but Pokemon with unique color and form, and new moves unique to them and them alone. Then there is me, the eighth human to be turned into this, a white Dewott with black sclera's and red pupils and iris', a Dewott that can use both water and Psychic type moves, a Dewott Shiny Latias wanted to turn into her greatest weapon. I had an ability that once I defeated a Pokemon in battle, my ability would absorb their life energy into me taking their power thus making me stronger, but killing them in the process. She had an ability, an ability she could control anyone she wanted to if one were to look her in the eye. That happened to me, on the day we fought after finally finding her hideout and defeating most of her allies I looked her in the eye and suddenly I lost control of my entire body, then after that everything went black and now I was here without any memory of who I was or where I had came from.

The Savior's were said to be completely wiped out of the Unova region with some reports saying that other regions that had Savior buildings were slowly collapsing. But one story that never did get told was the battle me and my friends were involved with, before I ended up here. I had no knowledge if any one of my friends was alive or not, or the result of the battle. Who had won the battle, and who had lost? What had happened to… Latias and our unborn child?

We had been walking for a good thirty minutes on the main street, constantly ignoring the narrowed paths and back alleys, ways which would reduce our walk in half if we went through them, but Lucian chose to go the long way. I didn't this city at the time, but if I had my memories back I would've suggested going through at least five of them to cut across several buildings to save ourselves walk time in half. But the reason for Lucian on avoiding these shortcuts was because most of them were occupied by rival gangs or a larger family of Pokemon he wouldn't want to have to deal with, he had something else to take care of.

"Hey, how long until we reach route 04?" I asked, starting to feel exhausted and a little hot. It had been a while since I had any food or water. Usually I would start work in the morning and that would only last until the afternoon so I can go back to medical and get a check up, then rest up. I could start to feel my wounds reopen, burning with a slight headache creeping up on me, I needed rest.

"Ten more minutes of walking." He sighed, shaking his head a little while he walked on a little bit ahead of me. "Now shut up and keep close."

"Why didn't you look for someone else?" I asked annoyed that he chose me of all Pokemon within the gang to be out here to gather left over items from the failed supply run, me of all Pokemon who was in no condition to be out here. I wanted to head back to the hideout and rest up for the day, but Lucian had to drag me out of there just to get items from a failed supply run that may not still be there. That this was all for nothing.

Lucian stopped and growled as he marched up to my face and shouted. "You are not going anywhere, you stupid Dewott! If you and that Oshawott never showed up, then me and Purrloin would've already taken over this city by now. But then she had to look your way seeing you as a potential mate. She belongs to me, not an amnesiac Dewott like you!" Was Lucian jealous? But why? Me and Purrloin aren't a couple or even that close. I have had only one dinner with her and spoke three or four times with her, and I don't feel anything for her, so Lucian didn't have any reason to worry about that. I wanted to try and calm him down, let him know that I wasn't trying to move in on Purrloin, but before I could open my mouth, that's when Lucian opened his, again with the shouting which caused quite the echo.

"If I hear another word out of that mouth again, then screw this mission, and I'll just return to the hideout by myself. I'll even leave you out here bleeding to death. And besides, it's my word against yours. I'll just say you were killed by a gang I know Purrloin despises the most in this city and then we'll fight to take over this city, me and Purrloin will." Lucian smirked, "I'll even send that little brat Oshawott into battle first, probably won't last a minute, because she'll end up dead like the weak little Pokemon she is. So shut up and move it!"

Lucian turned away and continued to walk leaving me standing there, my eyes narrowed glaring at the Buizel feeling so much anger building inside of me. Then to my surprise, I heard a voice, so many voices I didn't recognize all saying different things to me, 'hurt him' 'kill' 'make him suffer' but this didn't last long, the voices immediately died down as soon as they could be heard inside my head. I felt calmer now, but still angered by what Lucian had just said. Shaking my head a little, I followed Lucian in silence wandering to myself about those voices I heard. Exhausted perhaps, hardly any food or water today plus my body warming up. The faster I get this over with, the quicker I can go to mine and Aqua's room and rest up, I needed it.

The city was latterly empty with every street we walked through, rarely seeing anyone other than a handful of people walking in silence, nothing about them told me why they all looked miserable, hopeless, the reason a city this big was lifeless. I wanted to know more about this city, why it was in this state, about the people and the culture, what kind of events had happened prior to me ending up on the beach, even what had happened to the people who worked at the Savior's building, but those answers were left unanswered as an angry Buizel marched on ahead often shouting back refusing to stop; 'hurry up!' 'get a move on or I'll break your legs and leave you to rot out here!' with every store or building we passed.

By the time we reached the city exit we were now a half constructed road, buildings covered in blankets of sand. Further up the path, up some stairs we were now at a crossroads; left to go to a place known as the 'Desert Resort' and to the right was a place known as Numbasa City. Over by the Desert Resort path was a police barrier with an overturned truck with wooden crates tipped over and broken. This was the place the attack happened, where the supply run was supposed to take place, this was Route 04.

Lucian ran over, ducking underneath the barrier and towards one of the broken wooden crates with its contents spilt on the ground covered in sand. I counted three boxes, all broken with its contents spilt on the ground; clothes, plastic bottles of green or blue liquid inside. I slowly got through the barrier and stood behind him awaiting his orders. Most of the boxes were broken and yet we didn't have anything to carry this stuff back with. Do we just grab whatever we could and head on back? Lucian stood up shaking his head. "Ah, this is ridiculous! Why would they damage the boxes like this? Find whatever you can that may be useful to us; medication, food, whatever you find that isn't badly damaged. And be quick about it!" He said all of that refusing to look at me, walking towards one of the three damaged boxes. Walking towards another box away from Lucian, I examined the contents of the wooden crate to discover that the contents in this one were bottles of Potions, on the side of the crate there were the words printed on 'Delivery to Nimbasa City Pokemon Center' with the words below it reading 'origin; Castelia City'

I turned my head to get a look at the overturned truck, it was a truck meant for deliveries. I never really questioned before about the supply run, where they got the food and bottles of water from. I had assumed at first that they just… found it I guess lying around, or probably got it from someone else through trade. Perhaps this was where they met up, but I didn't know the traders were human. But why were the crates heading for Nimbasa City? Shouldn't they be for here rather than for the Pokemon center? Picking up two bottles of Potion from the crate, the only two bottles inside that weren't broken. _"These two will do. Hopefully that idiot will find some more stuff like this."_ I thought to myself as I examined the crate a little further to see if I had missed anything, another undamaged bottle or maybe something stronger than a Potion, but I couldn't find anything.

"Whew, this place sure is pretty hot!" I heard something in the back of my head, a voice I thought I had recognized. It was the voice of my friend Isaac Anderson, but because of my memory lose I didn't know who he was. Before the attack on Team Doom had begun, Isaac along with my friend Sakura Kanai, they were both killed by them. Remembering his voice, a voice I didn't know did hardly do anything for me; remember his name, his appearance, and our travels together or that he could understand Pokemon, I knew nothing about him. I shook my head, believing what I had just heard then was nothing but my mind playing tricks on me, the pain surging throughout my body, my headache getting worse, the lack of any food or water today, and my energy low, I shrugged it off.

Then all of a sudden, I heard a noise behind me. Turning as fast as I could with both of my paws clenched, I saw two Pidove's walk slowly towards me, stopping a few feet away. I lowered my paws to the side of me, but kept my guard up. I looked back briefly to try and find Lucian, but I couldn't see him anywhere. "Please don't be alarmed. We are just looking for some supplies. We don't mean you any harm." Said one of the Pidove's, gesturing with his wing towards the other to stop approaching me, or rather the bottles of Potion's I left on the ground. "We are just here to gather Potion's for our friends back at our clan. We don't want to fight. Please we desperately need these."

I wasn't sure how to answer that, I didn't know them. "Um, we got here first." I finally answered after noticing the Pidove's had walked a little bit towards me. Were they a part of another gang? Or were they just wild Pokemon living out somewhere close by? I wanted this to end peacefully, not end up in a fight. "Our supply run was attacked recently, our stock is low. Maybe we could come to an agreement?"

The Pidove on the right looked as the one on the left looked back at him. They turned their heads towards me and the one on the right asked "What kind of an agreement?"

"Are you really going to ask that?" The Pidove on the left asked the other. "He's obviously a gang member, most likely with the water gang since he is a Dewott. We can't trust anything this guy says to us. He'll just backstab us as soon as he gets his chance at it."

I shook my head. "There are three crates here filled with Potions, most we would not be able to carry back, we would have to leave them behind. We can split whatever we find with you." I was anxious. I didn't know any moves so if they attacked I couldn't defend myself. I looked back at one of the bottle of Potions and slowly moved back to grab it with my paw and walked slowly towards them stopping in front of them and placed the bottle on the ground. "Here, I'm sure we can find more. We can share whatever we find. I don't want there to be any trouble."

The two Pidove's looked at one another again, the right Pidove shrugged and said to the other. "Actually, I too don't want to fight. My wing is still busted after that whole ordeal with that Pokemon we bumped into the other day. And I want to get back to the nest this time without looking like a wingless flying type, embarrassing myself in front of so many of our friends… I can never do that anymore, I have my reputation to keep. And flying around with an already crippled wing isn't a way for me to stoop to a new low of being given a nickname that'll haunt me for the rest of my days."

"Okay, okay I see your point." The left Pidove sighed. "We'll avoid fighting if possible, so let's see how this goes. We can't go back empty with talons, these Potions do weigh a bit, so we can only take back one each, so since there are two Potions, we get one each- uh I mean one for the Dewott, and the one here in front of us for ourselves. It may not be much, but at least we'll come back with at least something good."

"I suppose it'll do. Okay we accept to your- Agh!" The right Pidove said before a stream of water shot at him blasting him in his face knocking him on his back. Turning, I saw Lucian appear from around the tipped truck charging at the Pidove duo charging up another attack.

"Lucian, w-wait!" I tried calling out to Lucian to stop him from the attack, but Lucian didn't listen, he instead charged yet out another stream of water hitting the other Pidove in the face knocking him back on the ground. Lucian continued to run at them, with his right paw charging up to use a Brick Break on them ready to strike. But before he could reach them, as soon as he got close to me, at the right time with both of my paws extended out in front of me, I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the Pidove's, kicked my foot at his feet and he lost his balance and I threw him over my shoulder onto the ground. I didn't know how I did that, it just happened. A move I knew from before? But I didn't have time to think about that now; I had other matters to deal with. There would be a fight between the three, I had to stop it before anyone else got hurt or killed. It just felt like it was the fight thing for me to do. First I had to calm an angered Buizel and make him see reason that we could end this peacefully, and also the Pidove's hoping that this wouldn't anger them too much for them to not listen to what I had to say. "I said stop, Lucian!" I glanced toward the Pidove's struggling to stand right back up, slightly dazed after being hit by a torrent of water directly into their faces.

"Y-you little!" Lucian spat sand out of his mouth, standing back up in a fit of rage as he marched toward not at the Pidove's but at me. Suddenly, both Pidove's managed to fly off the ground creating a miniature sandstorm around me and Lucian as they flew off somewhere north from here; Nimbasa City or the Desert Resort, they were long gone by the time the sandstorm had passed leaving us covered in sand. Lucian stood there with his eyes closed with clenched paws at his side.

"Lucian, I was talking to them, we came to an agreement to share whatever we could find. All they wanted was a bottle of Potion or two and they would just let us-" I didn't see it coming, Lucian had moved so fast that he socked me right in left rib just below the belly and hard. It was where one of my unhealed wounds was, a wide deep scratch across my stomach covered by a large bandage wrapped around it, one that caused me great pain if I bent down or tried to sit up in bed. Lucian hitting me there was a pain I hadn't felt before, and it hurt, bad. As soon as his paw made contact with my injury, blood leaked out and soaked up my bandages turning it completely red. I thought that punch would somehow burst open my wound and out came my guts for how harsh the punch felt. Falling to the ground, my paws hovering over my wound, Lucian yelled. "You idiot! You talked to them?! I knew I shouldn't have brought you here!" He hissed, walking up to me ready to kick me, but stopped and walked away kicking the sand, approaching the overturned truck and punching at it with his paw. "They could've been gang members, and yet you just casually speak to them like they are normal Pokemon, friendly Pokemon, your chums, your buddies, like that Oshawott bitch you hang around with!" He spat. He picked up another Potion from the other side of the truck and walked in front of me, throwing the bottle landing in front of me on a pile of sand cushioning the impact from pouring out the bottles contents. "You know what, you can carry all of these Potions back yourself. Purrloin is definitely going to hear about this. So you and that bitch Oshawott can say goodbye to our gang, I'll make sure by the end of the day you're both killed for this stupidity!" He yelled before kicking some sand at my face. He walked away, leaving me lying on the ground gasping in pain. I am not sure how long I was there for; it felt like a long time had passed an hour was what it felt like.

All I wanted to do was to see a peaceful way, one without fighting; now I was lying on the ground under the hot sun, with three bottles of Potion to carry back to the hideout…

* * *

****

**The Cruel One's Hideout – Storage Room**

I somewhat struggled to arrive back at the hideout having to deal with both my reopened wound, and arms full of three bottles of Potion through the city alone, having to watch over my shoulders should I be ambushed by rival gang members, often finding myself hiding behind trashcans before walking through each alley, nervous with each sound I heard or Pokemon I saw coming my way, not knowing if they were a rival gang or not, out looking for trouble. Aqua told me about the streets, she said that this city would eat you alive if you were not careful, many cruel Pokemon that would take advantage of you, use you, manipulate you, it was a dangerous city for wild Pokemon, travelling alone in my condition, carrying three bottles of Potions was like carrying around a sack of money over my shoulder, one false move and there would be no talking my way out of it. But somehow by sheer luck or it was my fate to arrive here undetected I had made it safely to the hideout with all three bottles intact, but outside the hideout were two Pokemon, a Growlithe and a Vulpix standing guard noticed me and brought me in, but not in a friendly way, an angry greeting, similar to that of Lucian, but less aggressive than him.

I was brought inside of the hideout to the storage room, the same room I was at working by picking up boxes and placing them on carts for them to be taken away to be unloaded. Five Pokemon I had never seen before surrounded me, staring at me in silence, until all heads turned towards the door when Lucian appeared shouting. "So you're back then, took your sweet time. You probably went sightseeing for how long you were gone for. Maybe you even talked to another gang member. A traitor under our roof." He stopped in front of me, pointing at me with his finger as the five Pokemon whispered to the other, too quiet for me to hear. "You're probably a spy sent by one of our rivals. Learn our weaknesses and take us out one by one." He turned to the others, still pointing at me "That attack, the one where the supply run was taken place; this Dewott right here must be behind it all. Him and that little Oshawott he is with, they are all against us, and they'll be the death of us unless we do something about it!" Lucian walked over towards the shelf near the door and picked up a screwdriver. "So let's send those pathetic fools a message. Hold him down-"

It was all he could utter before being interrupted by a loud voice echoing throughout the room that sent chills down all of our spines. "Lucian!" All of us turned to the door to see Purrloin standing there with the same two Rhyhorn's I saw outside her room. Lucian dropped the screwdriver and froze up just as soon as he heard her voice, a voice he had admiration for. He glanced over his shoulder at me, then at the screwdriver on the floor. He had to lie in front of Purrloin, anything to make her like him more. He wanted me gone, so with a lie he could do that, a lie that Aqua and I were spies to infiltrate Purrloin's to gather information on them, and then quickly he said, "This Dewott while out on a supply run with me was seen talking to two Pidove's, acting all chummy around them, wanting to give them our Potions." Lucian said, as he picked the screwdriver up and held it up close to my face. "I saw we kill him and that-"

Purrloin walked over to Lucian, with her arms behind her back, she smiled at him and then at me. "Zack, tell me what happened." She asked, her smile fading as her eyes moving down towards my chest where my opened up wound was, the bandages soaked with blood.

I told her honestly about what I did, what I wanted to do. I didn't want there to be any fighting, I was just looking for a peaceful situation. I told her that I didn't know any moves yet, and if Lucian started to fight them, what was stopping them from coming after me. I then told to Purrloin that I didn't sense that the Pidove's were hostile; they were probably wild Pokemon and not a part of any gang here within the city.

Purrloin nodded her head and circled around me, examining my blood soaked bandages and staring into my eye before she asked Lucian, "Why was Zack outside of the hideout?" Lucian didn't respond. Purrloin growled, "Lucian, when I am speaking to you, you respond. So I'll ask again; why was Zack not in the storage room working and why was he outside of the hideout?!"

"I-I uh… I needed help t-to uh…" he said nervously, shifting his gaze away from Purrloin the more she looked back at him. "I needed to find someone to help me out on collecting some of the items that we could salvage were the supply run took place."

"Ah, I see…" She smiled as she nodded her head; walking up to one of the Rhyhorn's standing by the door. "Rhyhorn, did Lucian arrive back at the hideout on his own?"

"Yes boss." The Rhyhorn said, watching as Purrloin leaned her body on his head, chuckling to herself.

"So Zack carried those Potions back by himself?"

"Yes boss."

Purrloin nodded her head and got off the Rhyhorn and walked over to Lucian, placing a paw on Lucian's shoulder, and whispered audibly so everyone could hear. "Zack is bleeding, you know he is still in recovery, and yet you take him out anyway." She gripped his shoulder, digging her claws into Lucian wincing as her claws pierced his skin. "You made him carry those bottles back, alone through the city" With one swift movement, she removed her claws from Lucian's shoulder and raised her paw up and scratched him across his cheek. "Did you think I wouldn't know? Did you see me as a stupid Pokemon you can easily trick? First of all, Zack is not permitted to leave the hideout yet, you fool." Purrloin wiped the blood on Lucian's chest fur and walked up to me, wrapping an arm around mine and pulling me in close to her. "Zack here, why he needs rest of course. So having him do all the hard work is cruel. Anyone else treats Zack unfairly will receive the punishment they deserve." She pulled my head close to her chest with her other paw. "He has no memory of who he was, he is injured and lost in this world, so we need to help him. Hurting him or making him do something that'll obviously cause him bodily harm won't be ignored here, so treat him well. Get him to the medical immediately. He has wounds he needs to have treated at once." She turned to Lucian, and scoffed. "But as for you Lucian, for your mistreating of another member within our gang; you shall not be given any treatment for your punishment across your cheek, neither will you be paid for this week. Consider yourself lucky that I didn't end your pathetic life like I did that traitor Bidoof." My eye widened at that, Purrloin had ended Bidoof's life. Then I heard another Pokemon laugh saying in between each laugh.

"And those stupid storage workers had to defend the troubled Pokemon. I knew there was something wrong with that guy. The idiot just pretty much doomed himself when he opened his stupid mouth." Others agreed with him, laughed, even Purrloin chuckled at that.

"If he wasn't as dumb as he was, we wouldn't have known who the traitor was, but now we do; Bidoof." The other Pokemon besides Lucian cheered. "But we didn't find out who he was working for sadly, but soon we shall uncover which gang he did work for and take them out. So go to your rooms knowing very soon we shall celebrate the death of a traitor." The Pokemon cheered louder, but one Pokemon quickly asked.

"But what about his companions standing up for him? What are you going to do about them boss? Kill them?" Purrloin shook her head.

"Nah. Let them work here, roam around the hideout. If they refuse to work, they don't get paid. We'll just have to watch them protest, complain. Eventually they'll either starve or they might kill themselves. But to be safe just keep a close eye on them. Should they strike, we'll just end their miserable lives for them." The Pokemon once again laughed, making comments about how Pellet, Phoenix and Bulbasaur were nothing but foolish Pokemon, just as stupid as the traitor Bidoof if not more so. They even made jokes or promises that they will treat them harshly from now on, branding them as traitors, just to make their lives here even more miserable, and Purrloin's lips twisted into a vicious smile the more things about Pellet, Phoenix and Bulbasaur she heard.

* * *

I arrived at the medical of the hideout to find Audino and Aqua cleaning up around the room. it didn't take long for them to notice me and my bloodied bandages, sitting me down on one of the beds so Audino could clean up and apply some fresh Potion onto my wound, a somewhat cold and stinging process followed by a gentle and quick healing process, one I was happy to receive. Afterwards, Audino left the room to get us some food and water while Aqua finished up on wrapping and tying the bandages around my chest. She asked what had happened to me, I told her the truth; from working in the storage room, Lucian showing up and demanding I go with him outside of the hideout to go with him to where the supply run would have taken place, encountering two Pidove's and trying not to start a fight with them or anyone, I wanted a peaceful outcome to this, but then Lucian came and tried to kill them, I intervened and saved them, but then after they escaped Lucian punched me in my rib opening up my wound, leaving me lying on the ground and left me to carry back the Potions alone in the city. 'That's horrible, why would he do that?' She asked, I just told her that Lucian doesn't like us; he thinks we are spies from a rival gang. He tried to convince Purrloin that I betrayed them, but Purrloin saw past his lies and punished him. I also told her about Bidoof, how he was killed today by Purrloin believing he was a traitor to the gang, about how Pellet, Phoenix and Bulbasaur tried to defend him, but they were ignored by Purrloin and the Pokemon who worked close to her all saw them as traitors, Pokemon they wanted to harm, make their lives miserable, and that only strengthen the reason for us to leave this place soon. I wanted to leave this place, but I couldn't unless my injuries were healed up and a memory of who I was to help find out who I was before all this to guide us, otherwise it would be a shot in the dark, without direction, lost. All I could do now was endure all of this until that time.

Once our food was brought to us and after we had eaten, rested a little more before making our way out, together we walked to our new room that had been set up the other day. Our room was close to the medical room, five doors down, a room Purrloin had set up for us (mostly me) should I need to see Audino if my injuries grew worse.

Our room was an improvement over the medical room, but instead of medical waste in one corner with little to no fresh air, this room was smaller cubed-like room with a boarded up window that allowed some light to enter through providing us with hardly any light to fill the room. There was no light bulb hanging above so the only thing we could use as a proper light source was a candle we placed in the center of the room with a box of matches and several other candles to last us the week. In the corner of the room were but a single old mattress with two pillows on, so we had to share it for now until we earned ourselves enough caps to buy another one and some more thing's we'll need.

Aqua helped as she guided me towards the bed. The pain in my neck subsided as I lay on the bed with my head on top of the pillow. She lit the candle before she shut the door of our room and sat at the foot of the bed. "Zack, did you learn anything about yourself whilst outside today?" she asked, opening a bottle of water for me to drink.

I didn't know how to answer that. While I was outside I heard many unrecognizable voices all telling me to hurt or kill Lucian… so I obviously wasn't going to tell her about that not wanting to sound crazy or something. Then there was something, a boys voice saying something about being too hot out in a place called 'The Desert Resort' but I wasn't sure that was a memory or not mainly because of my injuries and feeling exhausted throughout all of it did something to my head, that none of what I was hearing was real. "Nothing today." After I was given the open water bottle, I sipped a little water out of the bottle. A little warm, but it was acceptable. "So how was work with Audino today?"

Aqua drank some water from her own bottle before answering. "It was good today. I learnt a lot from her, such as how to apply Potions directly onto an injured Pokemon's wound effectively without causing irritation. Audino tells me I have a knack for this kind of thing, she says that if I want to she could teach me how to become a medic. Although the hours are a little longer and I may work nightshifts after my training is done. I will however earn more caps than I do as a low levelled assistant there… hmm."

"So, you gonna do it?" I asked as I leaned up on the bed to get a look at her, she looked at me and smiled, quickly nodded her head.

"Yep. Well if it is something that I am good at then at then at least they'll let me stay here. Because well this place has more than enough cleaners, so one more or two wouldn't make a difference, so I figure I could try out becoming Audino's assistant. Then as soon as you get a memory back from your past, something that'll help us on the path on finding your true self, then I'll be there beside you and taking care of your injuries." Aqua was afraid that she wouldn't be seen as useful around here, within this gang. And that if she couldn't do anything that would benefit them in any way, they would throw her out or worse. These wounds would take a little longer to fully heal up than what I assumed would take a week, especially with my left eye… or what was once my left eye now a glass one. I still needed to clean it and my injured as well while out on the road, so having Aqua around for that to help with my wounds, then I had nothing to worry about.

"Thanks Aqua. But don't work yourself too hard." I said before resting my head back down on the pillow, watching as she picked up the candle and moved it closer to the bed before climbing on the bed lying down next to me.

"You're welcome. And don't worry; I won't work myself too hard. Depending on how long it takes for you to regain a memory that'll lead us on finding out who you were, and then I'll learn the basics and then other medical skills along the way." She yawned. "I already know how to apply a bandage and how to use a Potion effectively. So there's that amongst other things I still need to learn, and then travelling will be a breeze."

"We need to get the supplies first. Medical, a bag suitable for our sizes easy enough to carry, enough food to last a while, and some other things we might need." I said to her, as I stared at the ceiling above. "But that kind of stuff cost a lot of caps. In the hundreds I'd say. But we need to manage it well so we have enough food and supplies between now and until I remember something. I have ninety caps in total, how about you?"

"Sixty… so in total we have one hundred and fifty caps. Food and water is fine, they're cheap to buy, but Potions and equipment bags are gonna cost us a lot."

"Rare items do cost a lot. But we can sort it out tomorrow. Are you going to sleep now?" I turned to her, she nodded her head. "Me too. Good night Aqua."

"Good night Zack." She said, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep shortly after.

Tomorrow Aqua and I had a day off, so I figured that soon perhaps, a memory might spark to life, the kind of memory that could give me some clue as to who I was and then we could leave this place. So tomorrow we would prepare for that day and purchase some supplies for the road, maybe even spend some time with Aqua get to know her a little more especially since we'll be travelling together, soon I had hoped.

So with that, I turned my head towards the lit candle beside the bed and blew it out, and the room once again was engulfed in darkness.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Lucian the Buizel was originally called just Buizel. He, like in the original draft of the story was still arrogant, cruel, and short tempered. But unlike the original draft, Lucian was not in love with Purrloin, he only worked for her since he had nowhere else to go.


	5. Chapter 5 Down at the Marketplace

Chapter 05 – Down at the Marketplace

* * *

That night I had a dream, a short one with images flashing from one location to the other; inside buildings of some sort, in forests, looking out at the ocean. I heard voices, different voices all talking to me, calling me by my name; 'Welcome to the Savior's Zack, we look forward on seeing what you can do here with us.'

"Zack, w-where friends, right?" I heard female ask me.

"Thank you, Zack. If it hadn't been for you I wouldn't know where I would be." A kind voice called out to me, a female sounded a little older than the previous one.

"The name's Isa….. Ande….son. I'll join you guys!" That boy's voice again, the same one I thought I had heard when me and Lucian where at route 04 collecting the Potion's from the failed supply run.

"You have always made me proud, Zack. You're on your way." A older female called out, sounding sad as she said that, but I wasn't sure why she was sad to begin with.

"Alright buddy, I'll teach ya all about on how to get 'The Girls!' a fail proof plan on getting a girl to like you the day's end, one hundred percent guarantee!" a male roared with excitement. What it was, I didn't know.

"I'll teach you all about the Dark Place. A state of mind where a Psychic can enter….. one's….. mind…. You'll be just fine, Zackary."A female happily cheered.

'Zack, it's me Lat… are you okay? Please don't forget about…. I'm sorry….' A female voice called out, but before she could reveal her name to me, it became distorted, returning to normal again leaving her identity amongst the other voices I heard unknown.

But as more images played in my mind, I was woken up by Aqua lightly shaking me with her paws, and then I heard the sound of someone knocking loudly at our door. "Zack, someone's at the door!" Walking up to the door with Aqua behind me, I turned the door handle I could just barely reach due to my height. Aqua wouldn't be able to reach it since she was still an Oshawott.

"About time you two answered. A minute more and I would've burst through and shook you both awake." The Rhyhorn said finishing with long laugh, in an accent that wasn't from the Unova region. One of the two Rhyhorn's that stand guard right outside Purrloin's room, but I would've thought that if this Rhyhorn didn't have scars all over its face, winkles nears its eyes. He extended out his paw towards us and smiled. "Call me Flint, everyone else does around here. I take it you two have met me sons? The two Rhyhorn's that guard outside Purrloin's room?" Aqua and I nodded and together we shook his paw.

"Yeah, I have seen them before." I said after me and Aqua shook his paw to greet him. Unsure how to talk about them if the conversation started with them. Flint chuckled and said.

"Ah, I know that look that is the look of, 'Yeah I know who you are talking about, but how do I say something to their father without angering them?' To put it politely; I know they're trouble makers, they're not the nicest Pokemon you'll meet, but I their dad, I am a completely different Pokemon than them. You see I work as security around here, so when I see Purrloin's um, rougher group harassing other members, I walk in and put a stop to it. What I am trying to say is that if you ever need help, just knowing that'll be there to help in any way I can. Can't stand bullying, I hate it."

"Thank you, it's um… good to know that we have someone watching our backs." I said, waiting for him to explain as to why he woke us up. We didn't have work today; it was a day off for the both of us. Purrloin yesterday even told me that no one would bother me, so why was he here waking us up?

"Oh right, um Purrloin last night asked me to let everyone know about the marketplace this morning has been now changed from nine to twelve in the afternoon. She and her guards are in there planning um… about other gangs if you know what I mean. It's a very important meeting, so she has asked for no one to interrupt."

"Oh, thanks. I guess we'll just plan out our shopping list in the mean time." Aqua said as she gave Flint a friendly wave as she walked back into the room to light some candles.

"Ah, then I shall not keep you two then." Flint smiled, but before he turned away to walked further down the corridor to talk to another about the news of the meeting taking place, Flint held up his paw, "Oh, before I forget; Purrloin asked me to delvier a message to you, Zack. She told me to tell you that Lucian has been given strict orders not to approach you. If he does, you must report him immediately and he will be removed from the area by one of our guards. We just want you to know that you are safe here, so do not worry about a thing…" Flint rolled his eyes, "and she says at the end of her message 'heart, heart, heart' three times… take care you two. Have a good one."

"Thanks Flint, see ya around." I waved before closing the door, turning to see Aqua had lit three candles in the room, one near the bed, another in the center on the floor, and another at the foot of the bed, all three would prove to provide us all with the light source we would need to write the list.

I stood there for a moment thinking back to the dream I had and I tried to remember the dream, especially the last part; places I saw of houses and fields, faces of humans, different Pokemon, and music, but they were too blurry and distorted for me to remember.

I looked up to find Aqua looking up at me while sitting on the bed with a paper and pencil waiting for me to join her on deciding on what we should get today.

"Okay, let's make a list on what we should get and what we need for when we finally leave this place; food, supplies, maybe even a map to help guide us on where we should go." She said, writing on top of the paper with the pencil underlined; 'Travel Supplies' with numbers at the left side from 1 – 20 things we might need.

"We'll need a travel bag for all of this," I said, and immediately Aqua wrote this down besides number 1. "Something that'll be easy for us to carry around with, but big enough for all of the things we'll bring along."

"They do have a lot of bags in the marketplace. I saw some bags that may be what we are looking for. So what else do we need? There's food, but we need to bring food that isn't expired and it'll last us a good while."

"Bottles filled with water. I'd say four would be fine. But after a memory comes back that'll help us one where to go, we may need more." Aqua write down water underneath bag numbered 2 with a question mark beside water on how much we'll need to get. Followed by food next to the number 3 again with a question mark on how much we'll need. "Medication; Potions, bandages, maybe we could get them first. They're cheap around here, so perhaps we could start off with that." Aqua then wrote medication next to 4.

"Then we'll need a map of the region," Aqua wrote down map beside the number 5. "Say for example you remember a location, another city, town or a specific landmark, we can look on the map and go from there. And a sleeping bag." She said, writing down the words 'Sleeping bag times 1' next to 6. I noticed she didn't write down sleeping bags time 2. Sleeping bags weren't cheap to buy here. So she wanted to save some caps and buy more stuff for our journey. Next she wrote down a compass beside 7 and a flashlight next to 8.

"These things we'll be getting, I hope the marketplace has all of this stuff. If not, then we'll have to make do with what we can get, or maybe we could find some outside."

"But we still have to consider on the things we need for this week." Aqua sighed, putting the pencil down and crossed her arms as she leaned back onto the pillow. "30 caps would be enough to get food to last us a day, so I say we get the food and water last before we leave, let's focus on getting the bag, map, and medication. And definitely more paper and pencils for planning the travel we'll be starting hopefully soon." All of the stuff we wanted to get would be expensive, so we had to work hard to get it. There were alternatives on getting more caps; doing extra jobs, helping others around the hideout with requests such as finding lost items, help decorating a room for someone, and more if you thought your skills would be suitable for the task. The job board could only be found at the marketplace, with my injuries not being as bad as they were before I thought about doing a little extra work to get more caps, but thanks to Lucian and his bad temper, punching me right in one of my wounds just below my rib opening it up, I was back to square one on the healing process, so I had to find work that would suit me best; lightweight jobs, quick ones, or ones that required for me not move too much. Those kinds of jobs would be less pay, it'll take a while for me to double my payment from my storage room job with multiple tasks from the job board, but at least it's something. "Once I get this job at the medical with Audino, becoming her assistant, I should be able to bring in a lot more caps; maybe we'll have enough by the end of next week if I work hard at it. But it'll depend on what they have."

"We should go over this list on what we need the most out of the others first. Food and water is the top priority here, we'll need that to get through the day. 30 caps minus 150 caps equal 120 caps. We can purchase cheap stuff first, a map would be best to start us off on where we could go from here. So when I do recover my memories again we'll know where to go and we can leave immediately." I said tapping the word map on the shopping list with my finger. "But the bag would be good to store all of our stuff inside, give us an idea on how much we want to take with us. I mean, if we buy all of this stuff we have to make sure the bag we buy at a later date will be able to fit it all inside."

"Maybe someone at the marketplace would accept on holding a bag for us until we decide on one. Perhaps on giving us a few tips on helping us decide what kind of bag we should get."

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Marketplace**

The marketplace, a place inside the hideout once a garage of some sort where Pokemon set up stalls of different kinds; food, medical, furniture, TMs to purchase to learn a new move, many kinds one could spend their hard earned caps on open twenty four hours seven days a week. There weren't that many Pokemon in the marketplace today, three other Pokemon we had never seen before; a Butterfree, a Beedrill, and a Cacnea all gathered around the Food stall.

With our shopping list in paws we made our way over to the first stall we had planned on; Miscellaneous and Other. At this stall we could buy the odd things, books, pencils, paper, playing cards, board games, art books, and other trinkets. But here we came to purchase ourselves a map of the Unova region. But instead of the usual square thin paper map of the region, we instead only found a two hundred paged hardcover book on locations from around the region. The pros; it included many locations that if for example I remember a lost memory on a certain location, we can look inside this book and find out where it was I saw and we could go from there. Another pro is that the book with each location gave out detailed pieces of information that may prove useful in our search on rediscovering on who I once was. But the con was both its size and weight. We wanted something we could easily fold inside the bag and take it back out quickly, a piece of folded up paper, weightless inside the bag like a feather. But the book would cause us to manage our inventory a lot more than we wanted to, we may even have to give up on a few things, if the contents we wanted to take with us become too heavy or overloaded.

"This things a bit too heavy!" Aqua grunted as she carried it in one paw and the map book in the other. Attempting to reach and grab either one of them from Aqua to help her on carrying the stuff resulted in her side stepping away, protesting on wanting to take a glance at the map book while we walk through the marketplace and check up on the shopping list. "No way Zack, I want to get a look through this book; the pictures in here are really pretty."

"Aqua, can it wait until we get back to our room?" I said, still trying to get the book from the tight vice-like arms wrapped around the book. "Well can I at least have the shopping list then while you flick through the pages of the book?" Aqua nodded her head and handed me the shipping list. The top priority for today was food to last us today and tomorrow.

Guiding Aqua through each stall we passed, I bought the food with our caps, twenty caps today, surprisingly ten caps cheaper than the previous days. The map book itself cost us ten caps, so I guess we were on track on spending things today. Maybe we would get lucky on buying everything we wanted using all of our caps… if only that happened.

So our other focus was either getting ourselves the bag we needed to store our items inside plus the map book, a size good both for us and the contents we need, or instead focus on getting other things we might need. The bags located in the 'Fabric Materials' stall was one of the larger stalls available, it was a stall located in the corner of the garage where the shutters where. An old table lined with fabrics; clothing, bed sheets and pillows of various sizes and shapes, sowing equipment. Hung up behind the counter on a shelf were the things we were looking for; the bags. Satchels, backpacks, purses, duffel bags of various shapes and sizes, some more than others looked like the right bag for us. But buying the wrong one would mean we would have to try again with another, in this place there was no refund on anything you buy here. It was all a 'see but don't touch' rule here. No matter what you want to buy, wanting to browse the stock, check to see if the product was legit or damaged too much. You couldn't touch it or try it on to check if it's the right size or not. So the bags? We would have to judge by sight only.

"Aqua," I shook her lightly by the shoulder drawing her attention away from the book and at the shelf of bags we could buy. She looked up and together we approached the counter searching for our ideal bag, the one we needed. The price tags of the bags were different for each one. Small bags sold less than the larger ones, it didn't matter what kind of bag it was or how much material were used, all were sold from cheapest/smallest to expensive/largest. The cheap bags all cost twenty caps each, the medium sized bags cost forty caps, and the largest bags cost eighty caps. The backpacks were almost my size, a little bit smaller so they wouldn't be a problem for me to carry, although the size of the backpack may trail on the ground for how big they were. I was thinking of the size of the backpacks compared to the medium sized ones. If we got the backpack, with all of the stuff we need, I might not be able to carry it should the weight and size become a problem. The medium sized bags may be what we are looking for, meaning that it could hold everything we need, including the map book and it wouldn't be too much of a problem to carry with us. "So, any ideas on what kind of bag we should be looking for?"

Aqua glanced first at the smaller bags, particularly at a small round backpack with a Pikachu face on it, torn by the checks. Then at the medium sized bags for a moment, then up at the larger bags, darting back and forth at me and back at the larger bags again before retuning her focus on the medium sized bags. She pointed at one of the bags with her paw. "How about that bag at the bottom of the shelf? The black one. See it?" I glanced down at the bottom shelf to see the bag she was pointing at. It was a black messenger bag with a long black strap hanging on the shelf. The bag looked like it was big enough to hold the map and a lot more. The strap could be easily adjusted so the bag wouldn't trail on the ground. The price was forty caps which would leave us with eighty caps remaining; we could buy a lot more stuff than we originally planned. The bag didn't look to be worn out, old, or dirty, it kind've looked new.

"It looks nice. It might be the one we need, but we should look at our other options first before making a rash decision."

"Well, this is the only medium sized bag with a strap. The others only have those handles. No shoulder strap, nothing but a strip of string to carry with your paws." She was right, I had overlooked that. I was only looking for the bags size rather than examine what kind of strap the bags had. So it looked like this bag was the only bag we could get here. If it was the wrong size we can only know when we have everything we needed for when the time came for us to leave, it would draw us back a little. "Yeah, your right about that. None of the other medium bags have straps. The small bags won't do for us, and the larger bags are, well just too big for us to carry. I suppose this bag could do for now."

"Okay, so we have our map book, our bag, our food for two days… what else can do we need to get?" She asked as she glanced down at the shopping list in my paw. "You know, why we are here, we could get a look at the sleeping bags they sell here." Aqua then searched for the sleeping bags, only to find out that her search wasn't a long one and to find many sleeping bags stored inside a small crate on the counter near a half awake half asleep Geodude scrolling up and down with his eyes at a clipboard, crossing things off, not paying any attention to our presence. The sleeping bags were twenty caps each, so Aqua asked for one messenger bag and a sleeping bag, handing over our caps to the Geodude allowing us to pick up and carry the items off from his shelf and the crate.

After our purchase of our new items, I opened the bag and helped Aqua put the map book inside, slotting it inside with a lot more room to spare as well as our food and sleeping bag didn't hold up that much space at all. There would've been an early celebration right then and there, before quickly realizing that we had not got the rest of the things we needed first; medical supplies, flashlight, compass, more food, water, and maybe something else will come up as the day's progress. The bag with everything inside seemed to be half full, and with the stuff that we'll buy sometime soon I doubt there would be any problem when it'll come to filling this bag with what we need it not more.

Carefully, I lifted the strap above my head and placed it on my right shoulder, standing up and lifting the bag up at a slow pace so I would not over do it and reopen another one of my wounds. With a slight adjustment of the strap, the bag didn't touch the floor or even trail, the bag rested against my waist. Despite the corners of the map book digging into me, an attempt I had made several failed attempts on finding a more comfortable way on making sure nothing dug into me, I found the bag strap to be comfortable on my shoulder without given me a strain.

So with the rest of our caps, we bought some more items around the marketplace; a child's plastic compass thankfully a cheap find since it was mostly damaged and cracked but otherwise still workable. A flashlight was a problem; it was incredibly expensive costing us about two hundred caps with working fully charged batteries to buy them. Not only that, but the batteries would cost about half the price of a flashlight, one hundred caps for one single battery. So it was either work as hard as anyone could to earn that much caps, or just focus on what we can afford and… put the flashlight and anything with batteries in the maybe section. Medical items like Potions and Antidotes wouldn't be that much of a problem to buy costing as much as food and water, so they'll be bought at the same time before we leave this place.

Our shopping had finished, but we remained browsing different stalls before we headed back. With our spare caps we bought ourselves some playing cards to pass the time when we got back to our room. I mentioned earlier that there was a TMs stall, that was one of the many stalls we stopped and browsed the many moves a Pokemon could learn; Water Gun, Astonish, Attract, Ice Beam, so many moves all costing one hundred caps each. I remembered thinking to myself as I looked at each one of them _"I should save up on caps soon so I can learn a few moves. They might help us out when we leave this place." _Then a move caught my eye, one I had used many times during my time as a Dewott; Psychic. I stared at the move not knowing why, like I was caught in some magnet unable to look away. It had been my first ever move I had learnt as a Pokemon, one of my good friends Espeon had taught me that move.

I shook my head, shrugging all of that off thinking it was my exhaustion acting up again, moving on to other moves amongst the stall. But somehow I kept looking back every move I saw, until finally I reached the last move, turning away from the stall and walking with Aqua away from it. _"That's odd…"_ I thought to myself, glancing over my shoulder at the stall. _"That move… Psychic, why does it feel, welcoming to me? As if I know it somehow? I'm a Dewott, a water type, not a Psychic type…"_

By the time we had saw all the marketplace had to offer, and with our items we had literally spent all of our caps on we decided it would be best to head on back to our room and to get a look at the locations on the map to see if I would remember any of them. Before that, the both of us noticed Leafeon enter the marketplace smiling as she saw us as we approached.

"Why, hello you two. Out doing some shopping today I see?"

"We just finished." Aqua smiled as she patted the bag with her paw. "A bag for us to carry the things we need, food, water, even a book about the many locations of this region to help Zack remember where he came from."

Leafeon looked at the bag I was carrying, a look of uncertainty as she did, "Ah, storing all of your items all in one place instead of leaving it out in the open. I suppose that'll do. Me and Umbreon were the same when we first came here. We stored all of our stuff everywhere; the floor, on our bed, on the shelves, it was a mess." She laughed. "But the real drag about storage is that all of them are expensive. So what did you two get today?"

Aqua and I looked at one another. We weren't using this bag just to store our stuff inside. With this bag we wanted to take it with us filled with the things we needed to travel around Unova when the time came. We weren't sure about telling others yet about our departure. Aqua let me be the one to tell her seeing as though I had my mouth agape as if I were about to say something at any moment. "Oh just a map, some food and playing cards to do something around here."

"Oh, if you are looking for some fun activities you should've asked me." She smiled; turning her head back to her small backpack she was wearing and pulled out a sheet of paper with her paw and held it out to us to read. "This here is all of the activities this place has to offer for those who want to pass the time."

On the sheet of the paper was a table with activities ranging from; a book reading club, training, board games group, group cuts and crafts, baseball, painting and more. Most started earlier than others, some started sometime afternoon all lasting for an hour each session before it closed up. Underneath the table in brackets read; You must make sure your sessions do not clash with your job. You will not be paid for any session you attend. Do not damage activity equipment; you could very well be fined.

These activates sounded fun, we might participate in some. Maybe that training session will be of use to me. "I'm mostly in the painting session with my son. The painting session starts every morning, giving me and my son some time together before work I suppose. We just use our paws to paint, decorate certain rooms of the hideout to give it some color, that kind of thing if we want. We don't get paid for this, but we do get some pretty tasty treats if we work hard at it, helps save up on caps when we go out to do some food shopping sometimes."

"Thanks Leafeon, we just might do that." Aqua smiled back at her, and Leafeon passed us the activity sheet for us to go over it before we decide on what activity we wanted to go on.

"See you later you two, I would like to stay here and chat some more, but I have to get this shopping over with and return to my family before I have to go back to work in an hour. Bye for-" Leafeon said before walking into someone as they entered the marketplace; Purrloin. Purrloin stumbled back almost hitting one of the stalls near the front entrance of the marketplace. When she finally regained her balance she glared furiously at Leafeon nervously laughing from almost knocking over her boss. "O-oh sorry about that. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going. I'm sorry about-"

"Watch where you're are going you stupid bitch!" Purrloin spat as she walked up to Leafeon with her paws clenched. "Why are you laughing when you could've hurt someone?! Is something mentally wrong with you, you stupid bitch!?" Tension now filled the room as everything and everyone came to a sudden halt. All of the Pokemon within the room watched in silence as Purrloin slowly stepped closer to Leafeon closing the distance between the two. Leafeon slightly turned her head away from Purrloin's face close to her, but Purrloin using her paw forcefully turned her head so the two were looking at the other. "Don't you look away when someone is talking to you; no one here is going to step up and save you from your stupidity!"

"I-I said I was sorry." Leafeon's voice cracked, still trying to turn her head away from Purrloin's. "It was an accident. I d-didn't know you where there. If I did I would've stopped myself, but I was careless. I'm sorry if I upset you or angered you. Please it won't happen again, I promise."

Purrloin stared back at Leafeon in silence for what seemed like hours passed. I had seen Purrloin like this before when she confronted Lucian the other day. He went against her orders and was punished for it, but Leafeon didn't mean to bump into her, it was an accident. Her face relaxed, and Purrloin smiled and moved her paw up to Leafeon's cheek and lightly stroked it. Then Purrloin's claws dug right into Leafeon's cheek and scratched her. "See to it that it never does, you stupid bitch! Or I might 'clumsily' go after your child." Purrloin grinned as Leafeon tear up as a little bit of blood trickled down her cheek, walking away from her and further into the marketplace. Seeing Purrloin do that to Leafeon, I was shocked. I never thought she would hurt anyone else like. It was an accident, she didn't have to do that.

We walked up to her, a potion ready in Aqua's paws trying to get to her wound, but Leafeon pulled away before she could apply any Potion to her wound. "Leafeon, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine… I deserved it…" She said, allowing the blood to drip onto the floor. Leafeon allowed the tears to fall from her eyes. She wasn't crying because of the pain, it was something else, something we didn't know yet. With Purrloin yelling at Leafeon, that was the obvious sign, she hated it here

"No you didn't, it was just an accident." Aqua Protested, but Leafeon shrugged her off and walked away, in the opposite direction to Purrloin so the two wouldn't run into the other again. She stopped and looked back at us for a brief moment before walking away, uttering 'I… goodbye you two.'

We watched as Leafeon disappeared around the corner of the marketplace, a little bit frozen in shock after what Purrloin did to her. Other Pokemon within the marketplace, mostly Purrloin's bodyguards could be heard from where we were about how Leafeon was stupid, that Purrloin should've just killed her for 'hurting' 'upsetting' her. Those things that they said all garnered a laugh or amongst themselves. Some even talked about going after her or Jolty sometime soon. At first I was unsure about this gang because of what Aqua told me about them. Meeting with the other gang members; Leafeon, Eevee, Jolty, Audino, the Pokemon at the storage room, they seemed nice. With Lucian, I just thought he with a very small few Pokemon here were the bad ones, and this place wasn't as bad as we thought. But that very small few turned into a bigger number to be concerned about.

I looked down at Aqua, and she looked at me. She was silent, but I knew what she was saying when I looked into her eyes, she wanted to leave this place, and so did I. But without knowing where I came from, it'll just be a shot in the dark. I couldn't move around too much without my wounds opening up, we needed more things before we left, a plan. All I could do was nod my head and she nodded hers like we understood what the other was saying. So with that, me and Aqua left the marketplace and back to our room so I could remember who I once was.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Currency such as caps weren't used by the gang in the original draft. Instead Pokemon at the hideout were given food if they finished with work.


	6. Chapter 6 Trades

Chapter 06 – Trades

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Our Room**

Ever since we got back from the marketplace yesterday, we have been looking inside the map book on all of the locations we could in a single day; carefully looking at each image to see if it would trigger anything, reading each paragraph on certain locations, history that I may remember from before all of this. I had spent all of yesterday and today reading through the locations starting from the letter A to H, and yet nothing has popped up in my head, no image, and no memory, nothing that would give me a clue on who I once was. It would've been nice to at least remember something from looking at these images or reading from this book, Aqua had hoped I would remember something. I still needed to get through I to Z of this book first, it would take some time to do so, and lucky for me I had all day to read since I had another day off. Aqua however had to go to her job today, starting her new job with Audino training to become another medic here at the hideout hoping to earn more caps and to use her medic knowledge to help me during our travels.

Ever since that day when I was forced out of the hideout to help Lucian with the supply run, I haven't heard back from any of the Pokemon from the storage room; Pellet, Phoenix, Bulbasaur, I haven't seen either one of them. They did say they would protest about Bidoof being a traitor. Where they locked up? Moved somewhere else? I didn't know. The only answers I ever got were all but total confusion as to who I was talking about. I hoped they were alright and I would see them again soon.

I flicked the page of the map book to find myself at Icirrus City, a three page section of the city full of different photos and history of the city. I stared at the photos unaware that this exact same city was the place I was born. I didn't recall any memory of my past there, even before I lost my memory. The only thing I know about that place was my parents and my sister Alison and older brother Ren lived. But one night, a man named Juro; leader of the team known as Team Annihilation had came to the house and killed everyone, everyone except for Ren. Juro killed them all to be used as reanimated corpses for his army, but for me, I was the only one revived back as a normal human instead of a walking corpse, and soon after I was adopted by the Amano family in Nuvema town when I was four years old. I had seen photo's and read about this place a lot after finding out about my real parents, what they did, their life living in Icirrus, although nothing came whilst reading about it, at least I got to know them a little more.

Sighing after finding myself already bored on this seemingly endless reading, almost already hopeless after ten minutes of this, but I tried to shake it off, refusing to give in desperate for answers. And so I kept on reading.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Medical – Aqua's POV**

Helping Audino was a better job than I could've asked for here, with her I didn't need to worry about the others. With her around I felt relaxed and I could focus on my work. I was taught the basics; understanding the different types of healing items ranging from wound restorations to ailment cures, how to identify them, how to know if a bottle was expired or tampered with. My next task after that was to heal a test dummy patients injuries within the time limit by finding a useable potion within a box of mixed bottles of various kinds, one useable Potion amongst faulty or damaged unusable bottles. I had to check the cap, the body of the bottle, underneath to find the errors, five minutes to find the right bottle in a box of thirty bottles, a test of memory on what an actual potion looks like, a real bottle of potion instead of a fake one. It was hard work, but hey I had to do this if I were to help Zack when we travel together soon, I had to know this stuff should we encounter any trouble along the way. If Zack were injured and I applied a faulty Potion on his wound or an expired one, well things might go bad from there.

"Do you know what you are looking for when it comes to an unusable potion?" Audino asked standing on the other side of the table with her arms crossed together, watching as I picked up each bottle and checking them. "However, if you do ask, then I'll have to knock off five seconds off your time. With two minutes already gone, you have three minutes left to save your patient. So what are you going to do?"

"I know I have to look for any damages to the nozzle of the bottle," I said, still checking each bottle as careful as I could opposed to being too hasty. "that and also the correct color of bottle and shape to identify it as the cure or restorative item I am looking for." Every bottle i had checked was either an antidote, burn heal, ether or a revive, broken, empty, damaged nozzles, not what I was looking for. I knew what a potion looked like I had seen it many times, but I couldn't figure out what the color was of the bottle that I needed; was it green, red, blue, or was it purple? 'Purple!' I remembered finally, a box with several other purple bottles. This bottle of potion looked to be in good condition, the nozzle looked to be in perfect condition. With it I walked up to the test dummy and applied the potion directly onto the fake small wound, just enough of it and not too much sprayed on the wound after remembering that too much would be wasting it depending on the size of the wound.

"Okay, test is over." She announced with a clap of her paws. Audino walked up to the test dummy and examined the fake wound; like how much of the potion I applied and where I used it.

"How did I do?" I asked, "Did the 'patient' die?"

Audino smiled at me, and in my head at the time I was thinking 'that went well, that was easier than I had imagined it would.' "You did well for your first day Aqua, but there was something you missed during your test," I didn't realize I had missed anything on that test. I thought I did everything, not one thing forgotten about; bottles checked, the colors, the damages to the nozzles, the potion looked to be in perfect condition, what could there be… "you also forgot to check on the expiration date of the bottles first before applying them to the patient. See? It's a month old." She held up the bottle pointing at the expiration fate, it was a month old.

Audino bent down and placed her paw on my shoulder. "Like I said Aqua, you did very well for your first try. Not everyone does it on their first try, but you'll get there soon. Heck, it took me a month to get it down, and I was the slowest to learn all of this when I was once a Pokemon at a center you know. But after much practice and testing, I finally got through and was chosen as an assistant at the center." She chuckled, recalling a story she once told me about her early days as a Pokemon within the Pokemon center in the city fifty years ago. One of a few chosen Audino to become an assistant at the center with a nurse joy. She had worked at the center for fifty years helping her Nurse Joy on treating injured Pokemon, she even bragged about being one of the best in the city, treating thousands of Pokemon in her lifetime. Audino didn't fully explain how she got here, why she left the center, the only words she ever told me were 'Time catches up with you and everyone you love. Many leave, but they are not truly gone, as long as we remember them. So I had to leave and find someplace else.' She told me stories about her Nurse Joy, how much the two of them loved one another, the best of friends.

"Now let's clean up this mess and I'll help you study." She smiled, loading the test bottles inside the wooden crate before moving onto the test dummy. I helped by placing the books back on the shelf I had used prior on starting the test before moving on to tidying the mess I had left on the floor, broken pieces from the damaged bottles to large paper balls scrunched up, paper written inside failed notes on a good bottle vs a damaged bottle.

Then all of a sudden, the door burst open alerting both of us to see Purrloin happily skipping inside the room, twirling as she did like a ballerina approaching Audino with a slight grin. "Why hello Audino, hello you." She greeted Audino and me, stopping as she stared at the practice test dummy on the table, staring with a blank face at it momentarily before looking back at Audino with her grin returning. "Why Audino, a practice dummy? Are you cheating on Metagross with a freaking dummy? For shame, you crazy fat bitch!" Purrloin burst out in laughter and slapped Audino on her back and skipped around the other side of the room.

Audino groaned and covered her pack with her paw from Purrloin's slap, she was hurt, but Audino wore a fake smile and a fake laugh. "Yeah, that was a good one, boss. S-so what brings you out here? Are you sick? Do you need to be treated for anything?"

"Nope!" She stopped skipping and sat on a chair on the other side of the room "Just here to visit my best bestest friend in the whole world…. Oh, and that Oshawott over there is just an appetizer, no need to bother with at the moment. I just want to ask you something. Now I want your honest answer, so listen up, you old bitch!" She chuckled in the seat, not seeing Audino with her paws clenched tight at her side, her eyes narrowed slightly, but relaxed as she composed herself, not wanting to get into an argument with Purrloin, an argument which would only end badly for Audino. "How much Ether do you have left to spare? Now I am not talking about wanting any freebies here, I just want some Ether's to take along for the trade off with that other gang a little ways up north."

Audino walked over silently to the shelf near one of the beds and pulled out a box off from the shelf, she opened it to reveal six bottles of Ether. "These Ethers have already reached their expiration dates. I was planning on giving them away to your bodyguards for free since they'll probably need it more than anyone to prepare themselves for guard duty later on today."

Purrloin snatched the box out of Audino's paws and smiled, "Thank you for giving them to me, I'll be using these to start off my trade deal with that gang soon. Probably try and get a good deal and get some much needed Revives and Full Heals if I can find a way to convince those fools to do so." Purrloin set the box on the floor and walked up to the table where the test dummy was, "So, what are you doing here?"

"I'm teaching Aqua here so she can train to be another medic, an assistant to help me out. I have requested more Pokemon to join. Not only get some assistance but so I can finally rest after being awaken many times during the night by an injured Pokemon."

Purrloin shrugged, digging her claws into the test dummy scratching it up. "Hmm, you put in a request? Must've slipped my mind… either that or you didn't tell me enough."

"I told you about it five times this month." Audino raised her voice a little as her anger grew, but again calmed herself down noticing quickly at Purrloin narrowing her eyes at her. "I-I mean, I could be wrong! We uh… we all make mistakes. Excluding you boss, y-you're perfect in every way, no mistake in your supreme plan." Audino nervously backed off from Purrloin, watching as Purrloin slowly walked closer to Audino, but relaxed after she smiled again and walked away from her, and towards me.

"That is correct of you to say so Audino. But Audino, I'm afraid I am shorthanded as of right now." Purrloin knelt down and wrapped her arms around me pulling me into a hug. "You see, my body guards are all busy; still healing their wounds after the attack from the supply run, guarding the perimeter of the hideout, making sure everyone is in line, and yet there is me to go out into the city alone with all of this stuff not knowing if I'll make it back or not. So I'm going to have to ask/no order for you to release your assistant and hand her over to me so I can have some help on the trade. She isn't doing anything much, and you are way too old, and way too slow to be out there assisting me while you should stay here, shut up and help any sick and injured gang member, you fool."

* * *

****

**Castelia City – Southern Section**

It was my first time outside since I was forcefully brought into that gang, the first time seeing the blue sky above. Feeling the fresh breeze touch my face, I could feel myself relax, I almost felt free for a moment, before Purrloin pushing the box into my arms for me to carry while she skipped on ahead through the alley away from the hideout with me carrying the box of ethers following her. Audino had fought to keep me in the medical, asking for Purrloin to find someone else, wanting to help me finish up with my studies. Purrloin refused to listen to her, calling her this and that, all kinds of harsh words, saying she was still the boss and her word was absolute, so she had to take me to be her assistant, she couldn't take Zack because of how injured he was and he didn't know any moves yet.

The alley we walked through I had never seen before, an alley just leading out into the main street of the southern section of the city near the harbor. That would explain the salty scent I caught in the hideout most of the time, either that or it was the old run down hideout making that scent mixed in with years old trash. By the time we reached the end of the alley, we were now at the main street, towards the right was a long wide street was the eastern section of the city, where one of the two city exits where. To the right was a street which would lead to the harbor, and a really tall building with the letter 'S' on the front, 'Savior' I think that's what the building was called, now it was closed down. And in front of us was another street which would lead us to the northern section of the city, where the stores, cafes, and train station was. Places many people not long ago had gathered and crowded the streets, but now it was literally empty except for a few humans walking by.

"This doesn't look good." Purrloin said as we walked to the northern street staying close to the buildings. "Usually the streets should be crawling with these humans, walking by them so other gangs thought them as nothing but trainer owned Pokemon, now all Pokemon wandering these streets are seen as potential gang members, entering one gangs territory may look as though it'll start a war between the two if not more. Don't you agree?" She asked, but immediately as she asked she answered. "Of course it is dangerous for us to be out here, mom. That's why I brought 'You' along with us." There was no one else besides me with her, and yet she was constantly talking to no one the whole way. It was confusing; here I thought she was talking to me on more than one occasion, asking about the weather, how the gang is, and what other things may be useful for the stock in medical. Every time I thought she was speaking to me, all I ever got in a reply from her were;

"I wasn't talking to you. Don't be so rude by barging in on ones conversation. Didn't your parents ever teach you that? Or were they just as rude as you? Dead foolish Pokemon who couldn't raise a proper daughter some proper manners. The fools they must've been." I stopped walking, that struck a nerve. Hearing her say that almost made me drop the box and get away from her as fast as I possibly could. But where would I go? I had never seen outside of the city before and I couldn't leave Zack behind. Even if I did run away, the other gangs would probably find me, or I might not get far with Purrloin here beating me to a pulp or end up with injuries worse than Zack's, maybe even killed. 'No one was allowed to speak up against Purrloin, that is the one rule we all must follow no matter what.' is what Audino told me when it came to Purrloin, we all had to take it all in her harsh words, her abuse, follow her orders and do as she commands. I didn't like it, but I had to… take it in. I walked faster to catch up with Purrloin, noticing as I approached she was still talking to herself, to 'mom' about me.

It had taken a little while at first to notice. Every time Purrloin talks to me she has always refereed to me by 'you' and never by my name, it was clear she didn't like me at all for how she looked at me with disgust whenever I was near or in the same room as her. I was nervous being this close to her, but I tried to hide it and instead to focus on following Purrloin close to her and finishing with this trade deal.

"So, you and Zack are close. Are you his mate?" She asked. I turned my head up at her unsure if she was asking me a question or her 'mom'

"Oh no, we're just friends." I said to her, she still kept her head facing forward as she walked.

"I see." She finally said as we reached an alley just behind a large store in the middle of the northern street, stopping before we continued. "So then, why is it you and Zack stay inside that room all day? If you two are not together, then what is it you are doing cramped up in that room?" She asked, as if interrogating me as she stopped and turned towards me her back to the main street, walking closer to me and pinning me against the side of a building. "What is it are you two doing in there? Have you… touched him? Has he touched you? Does he like you more than me? Has… he… talked about me I wonder. Has he thought… of me… all of this time since dinner? He must've done so… I am a genius… haha, well done Purrloin… well done…" She trailed off, looking somewhat dazed.

What was she talking about? 'Zack touching me.' 'Me touching him.' 'Does Zack like me more than her?' Why was she saying all of this? What did she think we were doing in our room?

My throat felt dry, my body become tense as she stared at me with those eyes, raising her paw up to my face, the same paw she used to scratch Leafeon with the other day. I didn't want to tell her about Zack and I planning on leaving this place soon so he could rediscover on who he was. We wanted to tell the others about us leaving the hideout a few days after Zack remembers a location within this region. "We um, ahem. We are just deciding on… p-planning our room. I mean, we are trying to decide on how to make our room roomier, decorated so it isn't dark all of the time." I said with a surprisingly calm voice, despite how on the inside I was nervous about opening my mouth to speak to her, unsure how she would react. Not wanting to get scratched or injured, without thinking I said "But after the room is completely decorated, we would love to have guests over for dinner. D-do you want to come?"

Purrloin's face softened up as she slowly lowered her paw. But didn't look at me while she talked, it was above my head, further up to the size of Zack if he were here, talking like he actually was here with us. "Z-Zack is that true? Do you want me to come over?" She gasped, holding out her paw at an invisible Zack. "I don't know what to say… yes Zack, I will be there. Just for you, my lo- oh! You are still here!" She frowned as she turned her head down, then she knelt down to my level and smiled again.

"You really do have a pretty face…" She whispered as she stroked my cheek with her paw, getting way too close me. "It's… so beautiful. Will I ever be that beautiful, mommy? Will I ever be strong like daddy?" Her paws loosened their grip on me, and I backed off a little, confused to see her Paws still up, stroking nothing with her paws. She stopped and looked at me with a smile forming at her lips. "Sorry about that, I tend to think about the past too much… let's get this job over and done with, shall we?" She patted me on my cheek with her paw as she walked further into the alley, and I followed not too far behind.

That was um, how do you call it? Was it odd? Was it strange? It was something. I'm not sure what that was about, but I was glad it was over before it got into the… weird territory. I had seen her on one or two occasions do something like that before, talking or reaching out to something that wasn't there with her paws extended out. By the time we reached the dead end of the alley, here unlike the main street behind us was quiet, very small amount walking around, but here instead of humans were four Pokemon standing in front of a small wooden crate watching us as we entered. The alley we were in had many tall buildings towering over the alley creating a very large shadow. The alley was filled with old filled trashcans, an old mattress, and piles of boxes against the walls for the four other Pokemon to lean up against as the trade took place.

The four Pokemon from the left wall were a Herdier on top of a stack of boxes carefully watching from above as if it were a flying type stalking its pray. In the top left corner sitting down was a Simisage drinking what appeared to be a can of soda from the… trashcan…eww. A Swoobat in the other corner watching as Purrloin set the boxes of ether on the wooden crate after snatching them off me first to the forth Pokemon; a plant Pokemon I believe is called a Cradily examining the contents of the box Purrloin handed to us.

"Ah, the Purrloin out on a trade? It isn't like you to do so, especially how baron this city has become as of late." The Cradily grunted, picking up a few bottles with its tentacles and shaking the ether bottles hearing the liquid slosh around inside the bottles.

"Indeed it has. Those soldiers's have occupied this city under command by Shiny Latias. A Pokemon of all beings controlling what humans commonly control taking over? Not while I am around that is." She smirked as she leaned her arm against the wooden crate, a quick move the other three Pokemon reacted by either standing or preparing to attack with a move. But the Cradily raised one of its tentacles and that seemed to have eased the other three Pokemon and stand down. "Kind of jumpy your bodyguards. Is something wrong?"

Cradily returned the bottles inside the box, raising another tentacle to reach inside the wooden crate several bottles and set them on top of the crate. "You are what other gangs call 'The Unpredictable One' a vicious and cruel member of the Cruel Ones. A Pokemon many if not all would love to see you dead. Just another gang taken out and the fight over control of this city will resume once more. You and the Oshawott belong to the same gang, me and the others here, some close friends of mine belong to the northern gang should your 'mind be elsewhere' when it comes you not listening to us most of the time, we are not here to fight, only trade. We agreed to this so our gangs may have peace for two months until we get back on our feet after that whole human army marching in recently killing many from both factions. So please, I advise you to remain… less jumpy so we can have a peaceful trade. I don't want the others here feeling anymore uneasy as they already are- ahem, I mean, please let's get this over with."

Purrloin sighed as she rolled her eyes finally catching her sight on the bottles Cradily had placed on the wooden crate, swiftly grabbing one of the bottles with her paw and shouted holding the bottle right in front of the Cradily's face. "What the fuck is this?!" The bottle she picked up was an Antidote, one of four bottles in exchange for an entire box of ethers. "Are you kidding me with this? This is less than what we gave you! And ethers are much rarer than antidotes! What gives?"

"Ever since the attack, resources have become far more scarce. Items, food, fresh water have been a struggle, growing more and more difficult to find with each passing day. Many are injured. The soldier's that came and attacked the city unleashed a poisonous gas which infected many humans and Pokemon alike, killing hundreds." A poison… an illness which took the lives of many. Yes, before I found Zack, there was this strange illness which spread throughout my home alley. Could this poisonous gas be the same thing which killed my parents and the other Pokemon families that lived with us? "We have heard that the leaders of Unova are doing all they can to help Castelia city rebuild, but who knows how long that'll last or if those strange soldiers will return. With these Antidotes you could save any poisoned gang members should those soldiers attack. We do not want anymore fighting, we just want to survive."

Purrloin scoffed placing one of her paws behind her back, a strange dark aura gathered around the claws… she was using a move, or preparing one. "Oh, that's rich coming from the likes of you!"

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

"You say you do not want anymore fighting, and yet you and your gang attack a handful of my Pokemon while they went on a supply run, now that doesn't sound peaceful to me!" She spoke through her gritted teeth, the move behind her back charging up more almost ready, but none of the other Pokemon saw this, only me. And then she attacked, but not in the way I thought it would play. I expected Purrloin to use a move to attack the Cradily and do something else with the other Pokemon, but not this. With her other paw free of the usage of any move, she twirled around and grabbed me by my arm and pulled me up against her body and attacked Cradily with a move I wasn't sure what it was, but it was some kind of dark move, large claws appeared as she slashed at the Cradily, scratching into its vital areas hurting it really badly.

Herdier, Simisage, and Swoobat all charged at Purrloin using their own moves to attack her. Purrloin smirked and held me up close using me as if I were a shield. I was lucky that most of the moves missed me, especially the grass type moves from the Simisage, but the ones that did hit me were the equivalent to that of a scrape against my leg, and my arm, the same arm Purrloin had hold of only letting go as the move from the Swoobat lightly grazed her paw, so with me finally free, it allowed Purrloin to charge right at them, from Swoobat first using a barrage of dark type moves and normal types and fighting types, kicking and slamming the Herdier's head into the wall killing it instantly, the Swoobat kicked into a window all with incredible speeds, and Simisage with a broken leg, something Purrloin laughed at and played around with refusing to listen to the Simisage's pleads for her to stop, she did so and walked over to Cradily and placed her paw on its head, scratching it across the head.

"I am going to take all of this, the ethers, the antidotes, you receive nothing." Purrloin stopped scratching the Cradily and walked over to the wooden crate and picked out a few more Antidotes and placed them inside the ether box, carrying them herself. "You know, I was going to let you off with a warning, with your petty attack against my supply runners. A box full of ether in exchange for four antidotes… I'm sorry, but I find that exchange a terrible one after what you and your gang did to me. I will survive…" she smirked, "and I will come after you and your gang first. It doesn't matter how young, how old, submit or refusal, I will kill every last one of you." Purrloin picked up the box and turned to me, smiling. "Thanks for that, you really did serve me well today. I only needed an assistant to ward off any of their attacks until I could charge up my own to finish them off. I would've kept hold of you longer, but since you did invite me to that dinner with Zack soon, I decided to let you live. Follow me back to the hideout. Leave the fools behind, they got the message."

Purrloin began to walk out of the alley, humming as she walked away with a little skip to it. The Pokemon left behind; Cradily, Simisage were left groaning in pain, broken bones, and face bleeding bad. The Herdier was dead, it didn't stand a chance. The Swoobat… I couldn't hear it, its fate left ambiguous. This would only fuel my hatred for the gang, this city… I wanted out. I was sad, I was angry, and somewhat I felt alone.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Our Room**

After a somewhat slow pace back to our room, I opened the door to see Zack reading from the book by candlelight on the bed. He stopped and noticed it was me entering and greeted me with a warm smile. "Hi Aqua, how was your day at medical? Learn any new tips?" He asked, but medical wasn't something I was thinking about right now. With the door shut behind me I whispered at first,

"She… Purrloin killed a Pokemon today when we were out at the meeting point." Zack mustn't have heard me, or maybe he was confused as he placed the book on the bedside table and walked up to me.

"What? What happened?"

I had told him everything, from when I was at medical one moment, and Purrloin showing up and forcing me out to do a mission within the city the next. A trade deal was all I was told about it. I thought nothing of it at the time, and that it really was nothing but a trade deal with another Pokemon. However it all turned out to be a set up Purrloin planned so she could get her revenge on Pokemon she believed attacked her supply run.

"Purrloin pushed me in front of her when the other Pokemon attacked; I almost died because of her!" I yelled, remembering back at how Purrloin grabbed my arms like that and pushed me down in front of her as she attacked, using me like I'm some kind of shield she can use to protect herself. "She just threw me, running away while I was left there on the ground not knowing if I would be killed or not. S-she's a monster…" I cried, letting out everything I was holding in since I got back. "I hate it here… I hate… *sniff* why can't you remember anything fast-" I had stopped myself quickly before I said anything more, but it was too late. Regretting what I had said I gasped, covering my mouth with both of my paws. My eyes darted towards the door, I was almost about to head for the door and… where would I go? Audino? Leafeon?

I felt Zack slowly put his arms around me, and he whispered, "I'm sorry Aqua, I am trying, really I am. If I could regain my memories, any important memory this second I would, but I can't. All I am asking for you is to wait a little more. I want to leave this place as much as you do. So please, please give me time. If it'll help, I'll talk to Purrloin so she won't bother you."

I knew Zack was trying, trying to remember his past, a location so we could leave this place as fast as he could. I was eager on leaving this place, wanting to know what was beyond this city. Learning the basics of medical, yes that's what I have been doing, I needed to do that first before we leave so I can help him. He was doing so much and here I was crying and complaining about things. I needed to be stronger than that. I hugged him back.

"I'm sorry Zack, I know you are trying. I was scared today... I shouldn't have said that, I know it isn't your fault. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Aqua, I'm not mad." He said. I looked up to see a smile on his face. "Maybe soon I can ask Purrloin if I can walk around the city to see if I remember anything of it. Do you want to come?" He asked, I only nodded my head and stayed silent wiping away at my tears. "If I had been alone, I probably wouldn't have thought about doing any of this. I mean, I don't have another Pokemon here at this gang willing to help me by being a medic for our travels to discover who I was. And if I did, it would've taken me longer to do so; earn enough caps to buy things. That map book for one thing, and have the time in between work to try and remember my old life."

We must've sat there in silence for an hour; at least that's what it felt like. Maybe it was less, maybe more than an hour. In that time I thought about how I could do better, not just learn medical, but something else that would help during our travels. Training, that was one thing I remember Zack talk about once or twice on things he wanted to do. So maybe I could learn more moves to help us out. Zack didn't know any move yet, we would be pretty much defenseless out there should we be attacked with the current moves we have now. I had to do more than that.

"So did you do anything in medical today?" He asked me, finally breaking the long silence. I smiled, I was happy to talk about medical; it was one of the few things I liked about being here. I was learning so much about it and knew that sometime soon my hard work would pay off.

"I had a test today." I said, thinking back to my test today before Purrloin dragged me off out of the hideout, away from what I wanted to do.

"A test, huh? So how do you think you did in that test?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh, it was just a practice test, nothing interesting"

"So you didn't do well at the test then?" He asked with a dumb smirk on his face.

"Shut up." I lightly pushed him as we began laughing together. "I am learning the basics, shouldn't be long until I know them by heart and I'll be ready for the advanced stage, just gotta pass my basic test first, the real one soon."

Zack smiled and grabbed a bottle of water out from the bag with some food from a paper bag, handing me a small box of dried food, one of the common and cheapest foods available in the marketplace, one that I liked to have. "Here, I got this today while you were at work. I have already had mine, so feel free to have as much as you want."

I thanked him as I took the box from him and sat down on the bed with him, even began offering him some after noticing he looked a little weaker than yesterday. I was worried that he hadn't gotten much food in him recently; he needs to regain his energy. But every time I had asked he refused, and so eventually I stopped asking, watching him as I ate.

After swallowing up the food, I opened my mouth to speak, asking if he was feeling alright. But he beat he beat me to it. "I'm alright Aqua, I'm just tired is all, and I'm not hungry not even in the slightest." He pointed at the map book resting on the side table with his paw. "I got through most of the book today. Just a couple of pages more until I have finished reading it."

"And?" I asked. "By reading the pages and looking at the photos, did you find anything that you remember?" He shook his head. "I see, but we can't give up. If the book fails to give us something, I'm sure there'll be other ways for you to regain your memories. But don't overdo it Zack. Remember; small steps."

Zack nodded at this and leaned back on the bed to sleep. "I know. I won't overwork myself next time." Tomorrow he would have to work in storage again, and I would be back at the medical.

I let Zack sleep and pulled the bed sheets up while I remained sitting at the foot of the bed reading from the map book turning to the Castelia City page, glancing at the photo's, buildings I recognized from my youth. I remembered walking past them with my parents, a time when gangs weren't as bad as it now, a time when we could walk almost to the edge of the city and back to the center without worry. The edge of the city… what lies beyond that? Would me and Zack find out together soon or never?

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter was first named 'The color of blood' were it shows Purrloin killing a delivery man carrying boxes of wine and then stealing the box.


	7. Chapter 7 Trying to Remember

Chapter 07 – Trying to Remember

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Storage Room**

"This is Pellet the Swanna. He may be chatty at times saying boring things most of the time, but don't be fooled, he's a good Pokemon that'll eventually say something interesting for once." The Squirtle laughed.

"Hey!" He chuckled shaking his head at his comment. This was introduction day when I first started my job at the storage room, an introduction I remembered well. I was nervous at first, in a room surrounded by Pokemon I didn't know, but after a while, I got used to it finding myself comfortable around these Pokemon.

"This little Vulpix is Phoenix. A feisty gal with a great singing voice that'll capture the hearts and souls of all Pokemon." He said pointing at her with his paw as she blushed at what he said about her. "Sometimes when times are rough, she'll even sing to brighten the mood, something Purrloin has admired about her and even gave her a singing job at the diner right here in the hideout if you ever want your hearts to melt by how beautiful she can sing."

"Oh stop, I'm not that good of a singer, but thanks anyway." She smiled as she watched the Squirtle walk around the room to introduce me to the last two in the room.

"Bulbasaur is the oldest member here. He ain't old, just stubborn; working too hard he'll pull his back out before he even realizes it." Bulbasaur just grunted at that and allowed him to finish off the introductions. "So treat 'em right and help 'em out if ya able."

"And lastly we have Bidoof, not the brightest one of the bunch, speaks his mind at times but a good Pokemon nonetheless." Squirtle pointed over to Bidoof still carrying one of the boxes refusing to put it down despite how much trouble he had carrying it due to its weight. "Oh for crying out loud Bidoof, put the box down and relax! No one is gonna shout at you or get angry if the boxes get a little grease on 'em."

"But the last time grease did get on the boxes Lucian got really mad at me. He said he would break my neck if it happened again."

"Lucian can fall off a cliff for all I care." Squirtle sighed and walked over to Bidoof to help set the box down. "Lucian won't do anything to harm you or anyone else again, not while I am around. So don't you worry about it, let me handle the trash for you." Squirtle looked at me and asked. "So Zack, what do you think of your new team? They're something right?"

"Uh, hey everyone. It's uh; it's nice to meet all of you." I greeted myself to them, finding a little trouble looking at either one of them in the eye for how nervous I was.

"Hey Zack, welcome aboard!" Bulbasaur smiled.

"Hiya Zack, always nice to meet a new member of the team. Welcome to storage." Phoenix jumped up and down happily.

"Welcome to the team Zack, I'm sure you'll fit right in." said Pellet.

"Nice to meet you Zack." Bidoof greeted before picking up the box again.

"These are your new teammates here at storage," Squirtle said walking to the storage room exit. "So work as a team and you'll fit nicely here, solve your problems as a team, and work hard. See ya later guys!"

With the door shut, I was brought back to the present in an empty room, the storage room where not long ago was filled with four other Pokemon, then three, and now just one; me, alone in a room given a job for me to do alone, to stack thirty boxes near the garage door entrance all the way to the other side of the room to place on a cart to be taken away. It was a job that should've taken us about two hours at the most because of how heavy the boxes were even for two Pokemon to handle, but with me… it'll probably take longer.

On my way down here, two Pokemon approached me out in the corridor just outside of the storage room and told me that I would be working alone this time, because the others were still being interrogated by Purrloin and her bodyguards about Bidoof being the traitor behind the supply run attack. I had asked if anyone would be helping me out since I couldn't possibly do all of this alone, but they just laughed and walked away leaving me alone in the corridor.

The boxes weren't stacked to form a massive pyramid, forming a row of two boxes on top of the other of thirty boxes to place on the carts on the other side of the room. I started with the left side closest to the door, picking up the smallest box first seeing as how it was the lightest of the thirty, an east start before I start with the heavier boxes. Why not just push the cart over to the boxes instead of carrying the box from one side of the room to the other? Well, this cart I had to set the boxes on was locked in place because of a previous storage crew once rode the carts using them as bumper cars and damaging both carts and shelves. Purrloin didn't want that to happen again and set an example for us 'No fun and games here, so all will have to pick up the boxes and carry them cross the room and load them all on the carts. That'll teach you immature brats to grow up!' I never met them, the workers that did ride the carts, but Phoenix I remembered once said 'They were legends. Pokemon despite not being here anymore were never forgotten about even to this day by not just the storage workers, but to most members of the hideout. Ask anyone and they'll tell you about the tale of 'Legend of the cart riding storage workers'' But most of the other gang members of the hideout when asked about this legend, most would either look at me all funny or have clearly no idea what I am talking about. Not even the bodyguards who have lived longer in this hideout than most had an answer to this, so I couldn't find out more about, how it started, why, whatever happened to the Pokemon who had left, I would've liked to have known. But more importantly I would've wanted to know if the others were alright, I knew they weren't traitors, Purrloin couldn't just exile them or kill them, they were good Pokemon, I just knew they were.

After unloading the first box of thirty onto the cart, I thought about just leaving this place and talking to Purrloin about it. One I couldn't do all of this by myself in the allotted time given, and second I was still in recovery. That was it, I couldn't do this alone, I had to know if they were alright.

But I didn't get far, I didn't find Purrloin in her room or out walking around the hideout, instead I found the door of the storage room wide open and Purrloin watching me as she leaned on the door. "Hi Zack, slacking on the job are we?" She chuckled as she walked closer to me, or instead jumped up on the cart pretending to ride it like a skateboard. "I know what hard work can be like; arms hurt, back aching, exhausted, the thought of just resting and having fun instead, relaxing on the couch or bed, instead of watching these miserable Pokemon all day… but someone has to keep them in line, make sure they are all doing well."

"Purrloin, I've been meaning to ask you something, what happened to the others? Pellet, Phoenix, Bulbasaur… I haven't seen them after I returned from the mission outside the city with Lucian."

Purrloin stopped her 'skateboarding' and sat down on the cart, giving me a harsh look at first, but then quickly eased up and shook her head. "They have done the unthinkable. Those Pokemon I believed at some time ago to be truthful, Pokemon I could trust, but now they are considered traitors amongst us."

"What do you mean? Does it have to do with the attack on the supply run?"

She shook her head. "Worse, those Pokemon have all but gone, ran away from this place like the cowards they are. The minute you left with Lucian, those Pokemon came to me and asked about their traitorous friend Bidoof. So I asked them if they were in on his plan, they denied, but I was still suspicious of them, the way they looked at me, spoke to me… it's as if I were some sort of villain in their eyes." She scoffed. "Me a villain, after all I have done for them, brought them in when no one else would. They then gathered their stuff and did the most unforgivable act anyone can do… they ran off, like a child angry at their parents over an argument or some disagreement. Give me an honest answer; Am I a horrible Pokemon Zack?" She asked, quickly standing up to face me. "I don't mean to be horrible. I know I can be a bitch sometimes, but I mean well. I look out for everyone here. I want them to be safe."

"Well, y-you did hurt Leafeon the other day… um, don't you think you went too far?-" I said, mostly without really thinking of what I was saying at first. I had managed to stop myself before trying to reverse it, but I had already said too much. Purrloin didn't seem to glare at that response I had given, let alone show any emotion, it was just a blank stare, a stare which Purrloin when looking at me occasionally twitched one of her eyelids. Whether she was holding back anger to shout at me or she didn't listen to what I said, she just stared. It was making me feel uneasy, the way she just silently stared at me refusing to budge, so I held up my paw "Um, Purrloin?"

Purrloin shook her head, wincing as she clutched her paws tightly at her sides for a moment, then eased up and relaxed as she smiled. "So you're saying I am horrible?" She asked, but by the time I had opened my mouth to speak, Purrloin pressed her finger onto my mouth to silence me as she chuckled. "It's alright Zack, I did ask you to be honest. I did hurt Leafeon, yes. Hurting her wasn't a good thing. I did go too far when I did. I didn't mean to hurt her, I was just thinking about a lot of things; the supply run attack, Bidoof being the traitor, the other storage workers fleeing to who knows where, fears of gangs attacking us when we are most vulnerable. I guess I panicked way too much. Now the Leafeon has a scar across her cheek… I feel so terrible about that." Her ears dropped as she sadly frowned. "I should apologize to her, make things right between us. She may not accept my apology, but it is better than not saying anything. Also Zack, you may have talked with the Oshawott the other day, when I brought her outside with me and pushed her in front of me when those vicious Pokemon attacked us." She did tell me, she told me everything. But Aqua told me the Pokemon didn't attack first Purrloin attacked them first; leaving most of them gravely injured taking everything from them. "I promise it won't ever happen again. I won't bring you or your friend outside of the hideout anymore. Your friend remains here alongside us, training to become a medic."

I was happy at that, knowing me or Aqua wouldn't be going outside again. I didn't want another punch in one of my wounds reopening it, or Aqua being used as a shield. We just wanted to recover and gather as much supplies as we could before we start on our search for who I am. One other thing I noticed, Pellet, Phoenix and Bulbasaur weren't here anymore; it was just me working alone at the storage. Was someone coming to give a hand with these boxes? With me showing up first and Purrloin entering not too long after me, I assumed this was some way Purrloin would introduce me to the new recruits working alongside me.

"Hey Purrloin? So how many new recruits are going to be working in storage with me?" I asked her; again she winced awkwardly scratching the back of her neck with her paw before saying.

"Yeah… about that. You see, I just came to tell you about the situation you are in right about now. After the whole running away thing the others pulled on us, you'll be on your own in here for a while."

'I would be by myself? Are you kidding me?!' I yelled in my head, staring back at the thirty boxes all lined up ready to be loaded on the carts. 'I can't do this all by myself. My wounds are still not healed up yet. I can barely lift up the boxes of books without feeling one of my wounds tear open a little.'"Purrloin, I can't do this alone. Get some others to help out back here. It'll take me way too long to finish all of this up." Purrloin sighed as she closed her eyes.

"Listen to me Zack, I know it's hard but I'm afraid we are low on workers to help you in storage. After the attack on the supply run leaving most of my bodyguards unfit to work for a while, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for you to do this alone, working out here, picking up heavy boxes, putting a strain on yourself and possibly reopening a wound. But we need these boxes loaded on the carts so all of us here at the hideout can have our supplies ready." Purrloin walked closer to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pulled me close. "I know it's unfair for you to be working alone, and that I probably sound like a bitch for doing this to you, but you are the only one in this hideout who can do this." Purrloin then moved her paw and touched my bandages were my wounds were. "You'll probably be hurt, wounds reopening and bleeding again… but I will help you with payments, free medical until I find new recruits to help you down here. It won't be long until I find new recruits, trust me I won't be long. I know it'll be tough, but you will be given a lot more payment, payment worth the equivalent of five workers worth. And doing this job today means you'll have two days off afterwards because of how slow the supply run will be this week, so you'll have time to rest." Working alone, carrying all of these boxes onto the carts. I didn't like it, I wanted some help. I mean what if while I was carrying these boxes I injured myself and there was no one around to help? Especially in my condition. But Purrloin was right about there being no one else to help out, and we did need these supplies. The caps I would receive after this would definitely help a lot on buying the things we needed to prepare ourselves for when me and Aqua leave this place. Even if I did say I couldn't do this alone, Purrloin would always repeat on how there was no one else to help out and everyone at the hideout needed the supplies, so I just had to roll with it and pray that I don't hurt myself too badly. That the thirty boxes and carrying them wouldn't be too much of a problem, my body was stronger than it looked and I could just lift thirty and feels like I only lifted fifteen ready for more instead of being too exhausted to lift up more than five.

Purrloin left, leaving me alone before she shouted at the guards outside and ordered them to help me if I suffer any injuries take me to medical immediately. Failure to do so would mean the guards would be punished, an immediate 'yes boss' was heard by both of them, a hint of fear in their voices almost hidden by honesty. I resumed with the boxes, several of them I found to be easy and light to handle, almost thought the remainder would be a slight breeze and that I would finish within the hour, if not less with the rest of the day to spare. All of the boxes were of equal sizes but all had different kinds of items inside; paper, clothing, food, all that kind that I found to be the easiest things to carry, but the heavier items such as healing items, books and tools I found to be the worst of it, the most difficult as I picked up one heavy box after the other. Ten boxes had been loaded onto the first cart, most of them light, two of them heavy. The remaining ten left unloaded were all the heavy ones, each one putting a strain on my back and shoulders. I remember at one point or more that I instead of picking the boxes up I instead just pushed it over to the cart and pick it up and set it up on the cart from there. I do remember there was this one box that refused to budge an inch when trying to push it over to the cart, a box I resented the most and nicknamed it 'Storage Worker Hater' yeah, a bad name I know, not much effort into it, I guess it made me hate that box even more and wanted to get it over to the carts and on to the next last few.

When pushing the box, my feet didn't seem to have any sort of grip on the floor causing my feet to slide or fall to the ground. No matter how much I tried, no matter what angle or tactic I thought up would somehow move it closer to the cart, yet the box remained stuck in place, the only way to get it onto the cart was for me to pick it up and carry it over.

Picking up the box for some reason proved to be a lot easier than pushing it. It was still heavy, but at least it was getting somewhere other than staying in one spot as if glued down and further closer to the cart, loading it so only a few more remained and the day would be soon over. I suppose my rash and hasty behaviour that day made me easily forgot about the important things, lifting with my legs, running or somewhat moving fast, wobbling all over the place instead of walking at a reasonably slow pace, one in which I wouldn't be able to crash into anything, knocking things over and adding myself another list of things to do before leaving this place as it was…

The job today lasted a little longer than I would've liked, but to my surprise I had managed to get all of the boxes onto the carts ready for them to be taken out by the Pokemon collecting it later on in the day, something which I still had some time left before the day was over. A few aches here and there, my wounds thankfully didn't open up this time, despite how much I… uh, didn't fall over much, not at all I mean… well anyway, I didn't need to go and see Audino at the medical after most of the time I worked here I always did by the day's end or before it, so it was signs that my wounds were almost healed up, no more bandages and I would be alright again… except for my left eye that is.

After walking to the main door and looking back at my work, I had hoped Purrloin would find some new recruits to come and help me soon when I would have to work again. Even if my injuries were soon to be fully healed up, I needed some help in here, and hopefully I would get some soon.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Courtyards**

Leaning up against the hideouts wall just near the backdoor, me and Aqua first of all looked up at the orange sky just above the desolated buildings above. It was one of a few locations we could go outside without asking for permission first, a small little courtyard for Pokemon to get some fresh air, surrounded by a tall metallic wall, sheets of old metal, and furniture surrounded the entire hideout with three or two Pokemon on top of each corner on lookout. There would've been more, but after the attack on the supply run they were only down to this small amount, something which frightened Purrloin she thought would be the end of her gang. A surprise attack from another gang would see the end of everything she had been building for many years all because of her gang being reduced to a small few left to fight, left to defend the hideout. There were hardly any of her guards inside the base; they were mostly out here on lookout watching for intruders. She thought with the majority not injured out here on lookout, an enemy invader or out to scope things out might see them believing there too be more inside. Before it was a nice quiet courtyard, a place for us to just talk and watch the sky turn a bright warm orange to seeing the stars above in peace without a crowd of Pokemon nearby watching us every minute, that's what is was like now that they were out here with us. Twenty other Pokemon staring and whispering things we couldn't hear. But they never said a word to us, just stared and whispered.

"So how was work today?" I started the conversation off, wanting to know how much medical knowledge she knew today, the progress she made, happy to know she was getting somewhere, I wish I could say the same about myself.

"It was great today; I did much better on the practice test examination. And I passed that one, thank you very much." She gave me a stern look briefly before chuckling and pushing my arm a little with her paw. "Yesterday didn't count; it was a practice, practice test and not the real one. I do believe though, in about two to three more lessons I'll have the beginner stage down and ready for the next stage. And then after that all you need to do is have a strong memory ready on where we should go and we'll be out of here."

"Heh, nice work Aqua. You do that and I'll focus on trying to remember about myself."

"Well, I can still help you out on that." She said as she pulled out the map book from a paper bag she set beside her before we met up out here. "That way it might be faster, the whole remembering thing for you and the medical thing for me." Aqua then flicked open the last section of the map book, pointing with her paw at each of the photos of building and locations in the page.

"You don't have to do that. You work more than me, and you are studying to become a medic. I wouldn't want to pull you away on something important."

She shook her head. "Nope. I'll be just fine doing both. With medical, helping you to remember, I'll be fine, I can handle both of them without too much worry and stress on the other. And besides, I want to help you Zack, isn't that what friends do? By helping each other out?"

"Friends…" I cocked my head at that. I didn't really think of that up until now. My head was too occupied on living in a world without any memory of who I once was, this new surrounding and Pokemon I didn't know. I suppose I saw her early on as an ally of sort, a companion, someone helping me with the situation going on here, and I by helping her with food, supplies and someone to talk to, we have been helping each other out since we got here, that was true. She was a nice Pokemon to be around; we were in this together. I smiled and held the other half of the book and leaned in to get a closer look at the photos. "Yeah. But let's not over do it and both end up back in the medical room again."

"Hey, maybe if you end up in medical sometime soon I can be the one to treat you. I can show you what I can do after all of the training I have had. Yep. With my beginner's knowledge I shall patch you up rather clumsily leaving you in a much worse condition. That's what you're thinking of should you end up in medical, right?" Aqua suggested playfully, again pushing my arm a little with her paw. "We haven't seen you in medical for a while, are your injuries okay?"

I chuckled as I placed a paw on one of my largest scars across my chest. Before if I had touched it this hard I would've felt a burning pain throughout my body, but now touching it there was no pain. "Well my injuries have healed up a lot more than the previous days, and despite today's hard work down in storage I was sure I would open another wound lifting all of those boxes, but I'm okay. I think my injuries are finally going to remain closed." I turned to her and smiled, "But you know, to tell you the truth after being together this long, the uh… first time usage of potions earlier this week healing the long cut just below my eye, it was effective and it healed up nicely despite you not knowing how to do it. Now that you are learning, I'm sure very soon you'll do a fine job at it. Heck, maybe you'll be a pro at it."

Aqua smiled and returned her gaze back down at the book. "Thank you Zack. I will do my best. Alright, enough of that. Let us continue on remembering your past self!" she exclaimed, gaining more unwanted attention from the Pokemon on lookout.

So Aqua first pointed at the last section of the book titled 'W' with the only thing listed here as 'Wellspring Cave' the last area of Unova we hadn't read about yet, a place in the past I only ever went in at one point during a mission… can't remember exactly what the mission was about to be honest, searching for a trainer's lost Pokemon maybe, or I might be mistaken that cave for another one. But like the others, none of the locations shown in this book gave me a memory or a voice, a blurry image would've been nice to see after all of the reading we had done, but all I saw was absolutely nothing. I was disappointed, and so Aqua, both of us with slight hope that something inside this book we would find answers, and yet came out empty handed. But we knew the road didn't stop at that; there would be many opportunities for us, other ways I can get help. We read the book once more, to try and to get my brain working again to see if I had overlooked something or maybe if I looked at it again a memory might appear.

It was hard work, took a long time and required patience. We were sure that something soon would spark my memory to life, a memory of a place we would plan on travelling to, leave this place and go to that location and hopefully rediscover who I once was. I didn't want to take too long with this since the two of us didn't exactly feel that this place was in a way not safe, rumors of an upcoming war between different gangs, Lucian, Bidoof being branded and killed as a traitor by Purrloin. I didn't want anything bad to happen to anyone else, so I tried my best to remember as fast as possible; reading the book before work, on break in work getting in a page or two before getting back to the boxes, and after work with Aqua in our room or out here in the courtyard. Anything to speed things up so we can leave this place.

Memories not starting up when looking at photos of buildings and locations in the past you have been in, as if walking into a new place with no important memory about it. Reading the book, looking at the photos didn't help, but tomorrow, one thing that did help jolt up my memories, It was a mission me and Aqua would go on outside of the hideout, another way for all of us to get the supplies we required; it was the medical floor of my job in The Savior's right here in the city, a place full of so many important memories.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

In the first plan for this story there was a vulpix that helped the newcomers to train. This idea was cut from the main story.


	8. Chapter 8 A Place of Memory

Chapter 08 – A Place of Memory

* * *

In the early hours of a new day at the hideout, a morning all of us including Aqua believed to be start of a regular day, going about their jobs, studying to become a medic, even a Dewott like me learning how to remember his past before arriving at this gang, Purrloin had other plans instead.

Purrloin had gathered everyone to the storage room that wasn't one of her guards on patrol. The reason she had brought all of us here was to send four Pokemon in the room on a mission to claim supplies from another location somewhere within the city, a building called The Savior's HQ. The items Purrloin wanted us to claim inside the building were mostly medical supplies on the medical floor, as well as food and supplies if we could carry it all back that is. A way for us to in a way reclaim what was lost from the supply run. Some of the Pokemon in the room raised their paws high, some waving them a little to gain Purrloin's attention, as if eager to leave the hideout for once. Since medical items were the main priority, she needed someone who knew what they looked like, someone who had experience on using them and able to identify what medical items Purrloin wanted. So she chose Aqua since she was working as an assistant to Audino in medical with me alongside her to watch over her during the mission, after what had happened last time Aqua left the base with Purrloin. She could've chose someone else for the job, but Purrloin only viewed those with no medical experience as stupid, that they had no idea what they were doing and would in her words 'they would bring back a bottle of perfume instead of Potion. Yeah, that'll help the injured with a life threatening wound or two.' And the other two Pokemon joining us was Noctowl, the same one we met when me and Aqua were given a tour around the hideout. He would act as the lookout should we encounter any unwanted foe or others entering the building when we arrive. And finally on our team was Leafeon to help carry a lot of the stuff back with us with three separate backpacks she carried on her back, quite a surprise to see her carry that many despite her size and how big the backpacks were, almost as big as her, but Leafeon was stronger than she looked, often taking on heavy duty jobs and missions. Jolty was against this mission where his mate would be going out into the city, but Leafeon reminded him that she was perfectly capable on looking out for herself, and with me, Aqua, and Noctowl with her she said she would be alright, that she trusts them knowing they aren't like Purrloin's bodyguards.

So out of the hideout and into the city again, but the first time with Aqua, and with good company, we walked through back alleys last after we walked through the main street before arriving at the building since Noctowl spotted some strange people in suits standing outside of the front entrance, so the back door was the only way in. Just a hop over the wired fence and we'll be through.

"So this building we are heading to, what do you guys think happened to the humans inside?" Noctowl began as he flew a little bit higher above us to serve as lookout while we walked to the building just further up the alley. "I saw the attack during the supply run a month ago from the other side of the city. You could even see the smoke from how low I was to the ground at the time. So why did those soldiers attack them?"

"They must've had enemies." Leafeon said as she walked. "A lot of them to take down all of the humans inside that building. I heard a lot of them either died or were taken away. They were humans who went in and walked out of that building to do missions around the Unova region. Right Noctowl?" Leafeon asked as she glanced up at him, and he looked down at her with a sad look on his face.

"Yeah… h-hey Zack, Aqua?" He spoke to us, and we looked up at him. "Did you guys know that I was once a trainers Pokemon? You see, back in the day I was with this human named Jay who had joined up with the Savior's. We were at the top at one time. Mission after mission we were slowly getting closer to what he called 'Rank 01' something he said would be the highest level and would bring him the greatest of honor." Noctowl's voice cracked as he continued to talk about his trainer and his life within the Savior's. "But he was killed by some strange zombie-like creatures during the attack in the city six or seven years ago. Then not long after I met Purrloin. Jay taught me a lot of things I never knew I could find on my own. He helped change my life to something better."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said to him, Noctowl nodded his head. "You two sounded like you were good friends."

"Best of friends we were. He taught me never to give up, no matter how dire the situation might be. To be strong in the worst of times. After his death, I honor his memory by helping others like he did when he was alive."

"Zombie-like creatures?" Aqua asked. "I remember that day. Those things appeared in our ally and so we had to flee. I remember running with my parents out into the main street for us to be ambushed by them. They closed in on us, but before they could attack, I remembered being saved by this trainer and his Pokemon. All I can remember after that was hiding in some trashcan until things quietened down." I didn't know it at the time, but when I was still a human during the attack in Castelia City helping the citizens from the attacks of Team Annihilation's new weapons, the Reanimated Corpses, I saved this Oshawott family from them. I never thought I would see that Oshawott again. Talk about a coincidence, us meeting again after all of these years.

"You were lucky someone helped you at the time." Leafeon smiled as she lifted up her left ear to reveal a huge scar down the back of her head. "But for me, I wasn't so lucky."

"Gosh, what happened to you?" Aqua asked as Leafeon slowed down so she was walking beside me and Aqua.

"When I was an Eevee, before meeting Jolty and raising our son in Purrloin's gang, I was cornered by one of those monsters. I found this tube large enough for me to crawl in, but not large enough for the monster. I crawled inside thinking I would be safe from the monster, but the monster reached out inside the pipe with one of its arms and scratched at me with its claws trying to get a grip on me so it could finish me off. I was probably there for an hour before it left me alone to somewhere else. I remember passing out not long after to find myself being patched up by a nurse in the Pokemon center." Leafeon once again showed off her scar to us, not noticing Noctowl was now a lot lower than he was to get a look at Leafeon's scar. "I like to tell others an alternative version on how I actually got these scars; battles gone wrong, being a hero by saving a family from a falling boulder or tree about to fall, freak accidents. But since we are talking about those monsters, I realize that all of us except for Zack here have something in common. I might as well come clean and reveal my true back story to you all."

"Ah, the secret is finally out now, is it? I thought one day you would eventually slip." Noctowl laughed. "Then with your permission Leafeon, may I keep your secret from the others at the hideout? I too love to listen to your tales on how you received those scars. Battling legendaries, a baseball hitting you on the head with your trainer at a game, a meteor… so many classical tales, why there certainly must be more."

"That you may. I have eight more versions I would like to tell others." Leafeon laughed "It wouldn't be fun if I told the others the truth and my storytelling would come to a complete halt. I love the mysteriousness about my stories, origins that you do not know if they are true or not. But I can safely say with honesty that this story with the monsters is indeed the truth. So let's just say this is a secret between friends." Leafeon turned her head to Aqua and me and asked us, "So you two, have you decided on what activity you want to do here at the hideout? A really good one starts tomorrow morning if you are interested, painting class with me, Eevee, and one or two other members."

We hadn't really thought about the activities we really wanted to do here at the hideout. Our focus was on getting things ready first, medical with Aqua, and me remembering about my past. Doing something to pass the time might be good for us; perhaps it'll help us on what we need for us to progress on our tasks. "Sure, we're interested in the painting one. What time does it start exactly?"

"It starts at nine exactly. You'll find it just to the right of the reception desk, the first door you come across. Enter, sit down at one of the tables and you are good to go for an amazingly exciting painting hour!"

"I've never painted before. Is it fun?" Aqua asked.

"You bet! It's as fun as fun can be. I'll teach you how to paint and you'll be painting all kinds of cool stuff; flowers, houses, clouds, cars, and just amazing easy things you'll get better as time goes by. Maybe you'll even get your pictures on the wall one day." I didn't paint that much when I was a human, or before my memory got completely wiped out. I great excited about painting, not really knowing what it was I would be doing or what would come to mind. Maybe while painting or trying to come up with something to paint, my mind would remember something and I would paint that.

* * *

****

**The Savior's HQ**

After a quick hop (or step) over the broken down wired fence we were now at the The Savior's building, or standing outside to be precise hiding behind one of the old mattresses left out here leaning against a set of filled trashcans. (Just a side note, I encounter a hell of a lot of old mattresses in my life.)

The courtyard was a large one, the kind of size which would easily hold several large trucks lined in several rows of eight with a giant brick wall surrounding the area. Before I lost my memory, this courtyard was once a basketball court for us to get out and get some exercise and some fun. I played out here once or twice, playing a five on five game with other members of the Savior's after a mission or before one.

The backdoor of the building was already open, but not by Pokemon, but by humans.

"Dang, and here I thought intel at the hideout actually gave out accurate results… lousy, lazy fools. I bet they only just watched the front for an hour before heading back." Noctowl grunted silently, leaning his head over the side of the mattress watching the door hearing footsteps from inside. "Sounds heavy… gang members perhaps? Humans emptying out the building?" Then all of a sudden we had answers. A human had stepped out of the building wearing armor, but unlike any armor I had seen before I lost my memory. Not the usual white armor Team Doom wore, but this armor was completely black from helmet to boots. The helmet's visor was a red 'V' covering almost the front of the helmet. On the shoulder pads had the letter 'AR' instead of Team Doom's logo 'D' so it was obviously another group, but to me with no memory of them, they were just humans wearing armor and armed with a rifle, an obstacle in our way to get our supplies for the gang.

"That's called a gun the human is carrying. It can be fatal if he shoots you with it." Leafeon explained with a whisper. "If there are more like this human inside, maybe it would be better for us to retreat and come back at another time. How about later at night?"

"Nah, if these humans are taking the stuff out of this building then by the time we come back everything will be taken already." Noctowl shook his head. "And besides, if we do go back with nothing, knowing Purrloin I'm pretty sure she'll punish us for not risking our lives for a few bottles… I guess we have no choice then. Enter the building, sneak around until we find the stuff we need, then meet back and return to hideout." We then watched the human as he did a little patrol around the courtyard, but close to the door before walking through the doorway leaving the door wide open, we sneaked towards the door and leaned around the side to watch the human walk down one of the corridors disappearing around the far corner. Noctowl was first to enter, flapping his wings as he flew inside stopping midway through the corridor searching the open doors of the corridor before giving the signal for us to enter, and so we did.

One by one we entered after the other into the building following Noctowl as he flew down the corridor to where the soldier had walked down to, that way was the only way for us to reach the stairs beside the front entrance, a few floors down was the storage, and several floors up was medical. When we got to the corner or the corridor we carefully crawled as low as we possibly could to a set of flower pots near the wall of the reception hall providing us with a surprising amount of cover for how much of the large flowers were already sticking out.

On the left was the front entrance with several other soldiers wearing the same armor armed with rifles just outside of the building, the reception was just in front of us, and the two elevators and the doorway which would lead us to the stairs was already open on the right, but the problem was to get rid of the two soldiers in with us by the reception deck. No other way past them unless we get rid of them somehow, cause a distraction, or wait patiently until they left. But if we did cause a distraction it would probably alert the other soldiers outside and it would create a bigger problem for us. Capture, kicked out and they would make sure we would stay out while they cleaned out the place, or maybe kill us. So our best bet would be to wait it out, a longer way to do it, but a safer one.

"So this is the famous Savior building. Eh? Doesn't look all that impressive if you ask me." Sighed one of the soldiers, leaning his arms on top of the reception deck while the other sitting behind the desk was typing something on the computer in front of him. "So what ever happened to 'em all? Dead? On the run or something?"

"All wiped out according to the boss, no more threat in the Unova region at all." The soldier at the desk said, his face hidden behind a helmet still faced the screed as he talked and typed. "But there are some in other regions, but they are of no concern to us as of yet."

"I see, would've liked to take 'em on in action. I heard the last assault a month back was the one thing most of us talk about, the highlight of their career, and yet here I am the new grunt that didn't have the chance to be involved… some timing…"

"It was harsh for both sides, we lost about sixty percent while the Savior's lost about twenty at the start, but that all changed when we pushed them back, cornering them when the boss came back down, face all burnt up with the biggest smile I had ever seen from her while declaring victory over defeating the enemy."

The standing soldier whistled. "Must've been some battle. The biggest the last team had until the boss decided to change the name. So, any enemy survivors?"

"A couple, but some fled the area." The soldier sitting behind the desk stopped typing and looked up at the other soldier. "But we'll find 'em, always do. But more importantly, we should cut the idle chit chat; we need to stay focused on the job at hand. The boss doesn't like it when we take too long, so patrol the ground floor while I search for the document room, heard they have some leftover blueprints and plans that could serve useful to us. Maybe even get us a promotion if we come back with a sizable haul."

"Alright, I'll go and do that then." The soldier tapped the desk with his finger and walked towards the door opposite us. "Let me know when the others have finished on the other floors, okay? Cause I ain't doin' this patrol on my own down here. Feels like I'm being watched by something."

"Alright, here's the plan; Me and Leafeon here will head to the storage room to find whatever leftover food they have left in here, while you Zack with Aqua go to medical and collect whatever's left." Noctowl whispered before leaning over the side of the plant pot over at the soldier still typing on the computer. "After that, we meet out in the back by that old mattress and we'll head on back to the hideout with whatever we collected. Now we should be on the lookout for other useful items, bonus items that'll make the supply run a good one, one that'll earn us a reward or two from Purrloin if we are lucky; batteries, extra medical, food supplies, clean blankets, pillows, cooking pots, anything that may be deemed useful for us."

"Right, so all of us should be careful with this. Should you be discovered, just try and be playful and harmless, the opposite of aggressive and harmful giving them a reason to retaliate. Humans tend to take a liking to you if you are friendly to them." Said Leafeon as she prepared herself to head for the door with Noctowl. Noctowl walk across the room towards the door as low and quietly as he could while watching the soldier type away at the computer. The soldier didn't notice Noctowl, didn't notice Leafeon, Aqua or me approach and walk through the door; he was focused instead on what was in front of him.

Without a word, Noctowl with Leafeon walked down the stairs to storage while me and Aqua walked up to the medical floor not knowing how many of those soldiers were up there or what obstacles we would face. Hopefully the plan would work out well for us and we would be back at the hideout, in and out of here like ghosts. But being this place with so many memories, it would surely spark a memory or two, and it would, and it did when we reached a floor before medical; the dormitory.

* * *

****

**The Savior's HQ – Dormitory Floor**

The climbing wasn't all that hard, especially if one such as myself as a Dewott was carrying a rather large backpack up the stairs while also trying to stay as silent as you could, anxious of the soldiers within the building. We had passed multiple floors one after the other passing each without giving too much thought about it, curious as to what items we might find that could be beneficial to the hideout. After climbing up the stairs, one floor left until we reached the medical floor, I stopped when I saw above this floors open doorway a sign reading; 'Dormitory's' I stared at it for a while unsure why this sign was causing me to stand and stare at it, then as if I were hypnotized, I walked towards the doorway.

"Zack?" I stopped at hearing Aqua's voice call out to me. "Medical is up the stairs. Is something wrong?"

I looked back at her and then at the sign pointing with my paw at it. "It says dormitory's, but I feel as though there is something in there. I don't know why, but I feel as though we should enter here." Aqua walked beside me and looked at the sign herself, then back to me with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean by that? Did you see something inside?"

"I… I don't know…" It was all I said

Together, me and Aqua walked through the doorway and entered the dormitory floor of the Savior's building. After following the rather short hallway, we found ourselves in a larger room, a very large window in front of us with many couches and chairs lined up near the window, three vending machines lined up against the wall on the right side of the room. Two corridors opposite the other with the signs hanging above by a chain reading 'male' on one side and 'female' on the other. There was paper and trash everywhere on the stained carpeted floor, mostly where the vending machines were. I walked down the 'male' corridor of the dormitory with Aqua following me, almost forgetting the dangers of the soldier's within the building; I wanted to know why I was curious about this floor, why it had stopped me and Aqua from heading up the stairs towards medical.

As if guided by some unforeseen entity, I found myself in a small room, a little larger than mine and Aqua's room back in the hideout, except this room had two bunk bed lined up against the wall on the left side, a window up front with a desk, desk draws pulled out and threw out onto the floor with its contents scattered on the floor almost concealing the green carpet beneath. On the right side of the room was a mini fridge beside a smashed TV on a coffee table. I walked over to the first bed near the door, reached out with my paw and touched the bed sheets, feeling the fabric with my fingertips.

A memory, for the first time since I woke up I actually saw a memory, an image played out in my mind. I was standing in this room, beside the bed and looking out of the window, I muttered to myself or probably someone in the room with me 'I wonder what life is like with the Savior's. Hope it's good.' I walked over to the window and gazed outside to see the ocean, touched the window with my paw flat against the cold glass. I then remembered staring out of this window, from night to day, snow to rain, music and voices playing from the TV, voices of people or Pokemon I knew talk to me, some saying that it was time for work.

"Aqua… I'm remembering things." I said. Aqua walked up beside me.

"You are? What do you remember?"

"I think I was someone's Pokemon here. I remember being in this exact room, looking out of this window, a voice telling me it was time for work." I turned back around at the room. "I know this building…" I smiled, and then chuckled to myself. "I remember something. Finally I remember something about my life."

"Zack, are you sure?" I looked around the room again just to make sure it was this room. My eye caught a crack in the ceiling above the door. I remembered seeing this back when I was here, saying something along the lines of 'This room could've been better, but It'll do.' I pointed at it.

"That crack above the door, I remember that." I took one more glance around the room. "I have been here, this exact room. W-was I a Savior's Pokemon? I was found at the beach covered in all of these injuries. The beach isn't too far from here, so I must've fell into the water and drifted there. Noctowl did say there was an attack after I came here, maybe me and this trainer I was with were attacked and I fell in ocean… i-is that why?"

"Zack… I-" Aqua was cut off by the sound of a door slamming nearby, followed by the voices of two humans arguing with each other, voices getting closer to the room. Quickly, I grabbed hold of Aqua's paw and we tried to crawl underneath the bunk beds to hide from the soldier.

"Whoa! Hey look at this, there are Pokemon in here!" But it was too late. Not even an inch under and we were caught. Slowly we stood up and faced the soldiers. But Aqua hide behind me as the tow soldier's entered, staring down at us, faces hidden behind their helmets. Unlike the other soldiers, these two didn't have rifles, only handguns holstered as they knelt down as much as they could to our level.

"Well ain't this a sight." Said the soldier on the left, blocking our only way out of the room. If I had any moves I would've used some to get ourselves out of this. I took an aggressive stance at first, but Aqua grabbed my arm and shook it gently before whispering.

"Zack, remember, don't act aggressive around them." She whispered next to me, or rather than behind me when she noticed the soldier on the left hold out his hand to pet my head.

"Don't worry little guy, I ain't gonna hurt ya, I only wanna pet ya." He patted my head with his hand, a rather uncomfortable feeling because of the hardened metal-like material of his glove gabbing into my forehead. "There, that ain't so bad, huh?"

"Hey man, don't ya think you should've addressed the bigger issue? Like for example this Dewott is a white one with red and black eyes or eye because of the eye patch?"

The soldier stopped patting me and turned to the other solider. "Oh course I have, idiot. I ain't blind; I know this Dewott is unlike any Dewott I've seen before, probably a region variant… Kalos maybe? Some pretty unusual Pokemon up there. But why these two here?" The soldier asked him, turning his head to look at the both of us. "Thought the guys did a complete sweep of the area first before we entered. Made sure no Savior's were left in here, no hobos from the street already claiming this as their new home for a while, and certainly no Pokemon. Can't have interferences disrupt our work."

"C'mon man, they're only Pokemon." Muttered the soldier on the left while the soldier on the right was reaching for his gun. "And from the looks of it, it looks like they were up to something before we entered; both on the floor, near the bed. The Oshawott's a female, a shiny one so it's really rare to see that kind of combination and the Dewott is… well different from others. Looks like it has seen a lot of battles if it has many injuries on its body, and let's not forget the massive scar across the face. Maybe these two were about to get it on before we entered." He laughed to himself, leaving me and Aqua confused as to what he meant by 'get it on'

"The boss told us we can't have interruptions. No witnesses, no survivors, and certainly no one inside this building by the time we finish up here. You think the boss is gonna be happy that we left two Pokemon leave this place? What if these two are Pokemon the Savior's owned? And the boss did say the Savior's did need to be wiped out of the region." He grabbed his gun, and brought it up slow.

"Aqua run!" I yelled, grabbing my own scalchop and using it to strike it against the soldier's wrist to break his grip on the gun.

"The hell?! The Dewott talked!" I was confused at first by what the solider had said, but I didn't ask them what they meant, my only concern should be that on getting out of here, getting our supplies and heading back to the hideout. Aqua had made it outside of the room while I was striking each of the two soldiers with my scalchop as hard as I could against their heads, chests, arms, wherever I could reach, that would do the most damage. I had no experience on fighting, no training after I lost my memory, my moves all wiped. Made me regret on not training earlier, only focusing on reading books and trying to remember the past, maybe I would've had a better chance on finishing them off quicker before more show up.

One of the other soldiers, left, right, I didn't know at this point in the struggle reached out for his knife, try to stab at me with it only instead grazed my left shoulder drawing out a little blood. I retaliated by striking the soldier with the knife with my scalchop not on his hand to release his grip on the knife, but by striking him as hard as I could repeatedly, cracking his visor more and more with each strike, until finally the scalchop broke through and I was now hitting his face with my scalchop. Instead of the glass from the visor flying off with each strike it was now blood, the soldier letting out a scream which grew louder and louder with each strike, then fell silent.

"Get off 'em you son of a bitch!" yelled the other soldier as he yanked me off the unconscious soldier, pulling out his knife to stab me with it. Everything seemed to slow down for me as I saw that knife raised up by the soldier in his hand until it came closer towards me, towards my chest for the finishing blow. My arms flailed trying to break free, but it was useless, his grip was too strong for me to break free. My scalchop on the floor was out of reach for me to pick it up as attempt to block the strike from the knife or attack the soldier, a strong attack for me to break free, but I couldn't reach it. No voices this time at the back of my head, granting me a somewhat uncontrollable power to overwhelm my foes. Maybe there silence was there way on telling me to 'give up' no plan 'B' no help. All I could do was just wait for the knife to pierce my chest and into my heart, and pray for a quick death.

"Ahh!" The solider screamed and I was let go falling on my knees. I quickly grabbed the scalchop and looked back at the soldier to find him covering his bleeding leg just above the knee with both hands covering a wound I hadn't noticed before. No, he didn't have that when I attacked him before, this was a new cut. Then at the corner of my eye I saw Aqua with her scalchop in her paws activated, a long blade-like blue beam of light from the tip of her scalchop; Razor Shell, she had used it to strike at the soldiers leg piercing the armor and cutting into the flesh. The move died out and Aqua stumbled back, shaken up at what had happened, almost dropping the scalchop on the floor.

With the soldier already been dealt with, in a nonlethal matter, I knelt down to Aqua's level to check up on her. She wasn't tearing up; she looked surprised more than anxious. "I… I don't know how I did that." She said before swallowing. "I just… I heard the struggling, but I had to help… so I grabbed the scalchop and I just… I just struck him. But I wasn't afraid, I don't know why, but I somehow knew to enter at that moment. In the back of my head, something was telling me to act now. Earlier wasn't a good thing, acting too soon would be bad, but then at that moment I felt as though it was time that I had to help you. I have never used that move before…" I wasn't sure what she meant by that, entering when she did claiming that something told her to act. Aqua shook her head and smiled. "C'mon Zack, we're running out of time. We should hurry up with this and head on back to the others."

There was something Aqua wasn't telling me, but I didn't pry on it too much, not yet at least, I wanted to get out of here and to somewhere safer, somewhere we could talk and relax. We still had a job to do. With these soldiers out of the way, we wouldn't have long until someone within the building had noticed these two were in that room injured, they would send more soldiers inside and take us out, all of us out and this mission would end up with all of us dead. Gather the medical supplies, gather them and leave as quickly as we could, that was what I kept telling myself, but it didn't help calm myself down. We just had to keep going.

* * *

****

**The Savior's HQ – Medical Floor**

Unlike the previous floor where we only saw two soldiers, this floor had ten in total patrolling the area, all wearing the same armor, same weapons, and possibly all with the same order; kill whatever they should find in this building that isn't with them, so we had to be careful, one false move and that will be it. I saw no way on fighting my way through these soldiers, we could only run, probably won't get that far.

The once white floor and ceiling was now dirty, walls cracked and crumbling due to impact by either an explosion or a Pokemon's move, maybe a little bit of both, so I was guessing there was some resistance when the attack happened in, maybe a lot worse further inside the building. To the left where three guards were patrolling down was the patient room's, an area of this place I was a regular occupier of spending weeks if not months resting in bed due to the injuries I would sometimes receive during and after missions. But we were not going that way to get our medical supplies. But if we were to go down that corridor, would I remember anymore of my forgotten memories? Past injuries, and maybe waking up in the bed from a human to a Dewott. That would be a strange story to tell Aqua or anyone else back at base. They would probably view me as some… alien thing to them? I don't know, it probably wouldn't be pleasant. Up ahead of us was the medical staff as well as the waiting room, a place which had occupied most the guards, six of them with document and files placing them in boxes to be taken away back to wherever they came from. To the right was the supplies room located just right beside the reception desk. Problem was since it was so close to the six guards, we would possibly create noise transferring the bottles from the shelves to the backpack. They weren't just stacked neatly on a shelf, they were all stored in boxes, heavy boxes that may suit difficult for me and Aqua to lift off the shelf and onto the ground, but hopefully I thought, hopefully we would find at least one or maybe two open boxes with all of the things we came here for.

We hid behind an empty flower pot large enough to hide Aqua at least, but left the top of my head concealed for the soldiers to see if one or all glanced over here, so we had to be quick with this. Now I said this place was guarded by ten guards, but I only mentioned nine. Six behind the counter and three down the left corridor, but the last soldier none of us had noticed was standing right next to the empty flower pot near the door watching his comrade's work while he was supposed to watch the entrance. If I had not had noticed him when the time came for us to walk to the supply room, he would've defiantly had noticed us and alerted us to the soldiers.

We thought we would have to turn back and find some other way around them, until the three soldier's started laughing at something down the corridor. The solider turned facing the corridor and yelled "Hey! You three! I told you before not to mess around and patrol this area instead of playing around like kids, for crying out loud." Before the soldier returned back to the wall, one of the soldier yelled back

"You gonna make us, tough guy?"

"Yeah c'mon Johnny! Woo!" whooped another, shrieking with laughter.

The soldier shook his head muttering something along the lines of "Punks!" and walked down that corridor disappearing around the corner. That was our chance, and we took it without wasting any more time than we have lost.

Inside the small room, we had found what we were searching for. A single large shelf carrying over twenty boxes labelled a variety of different things; 'Potion' 'Ether' 'Revives' 'Bandages' towels lined up at the end of the shelf. Wasting no time we walked up to the shelf and examined the shelf closest to us and opened the box, and inside were Potions. Aqua carefully and silently as she could grabbed one of the bottles, picked it up and examined the bottle, felt the weight. She turned to me and nodded. "These bottles are okay, we should take them with us."

"Only what we can. Get different bottles so we don't carry too much of the same thing." I whispered back, helping her take down more boxes before preparing the backpack for us to take whatever we could back with us. We stored three Potions, two Full Restore, a Super Potion, two Elixirs, three Revives, five Antidotes', and filling the remainder of our back with five large clean sheets. The bag was at good weight for me to carry back down the stairs to meet with the others, and because of the sheets inside wrapped around some of the bottles it did reduce the clanging from the bottles. But the problem was what was waiting at the door of the medical.

We could run for it, startle the soldier and run as fast as we could down the stairs, through the lobby, over the wired gate and through the alley back home. It sounds easier said than done.

Cautiously and slowly, I peeked around the doorway down at the entrance of medical… he wasn't there. Then down at the corridor… it was empty. I felt relieved, signalling to Aqua to follow closely while we crouched towards the door. Had we been too slow, we wouldn't reach the door in time, faster than we were inside the supplies room then maybe we would've avoided this. Five feet away from the door leading out of the medical and a five minute long descent down the stairs and we would soon meet up with Leafeon and Noctowl, but around the corner came walking the soldier who was before standing outside the entrance to medical. Unfortunately, he had noticed us, shouting out "Intruders!" causing all soldiers' behind the desk to look up over by the door and noticed us, and so we ran as fast as we could through the door and down stairs, jumping in between each step to gain some speed. We passed the dormitory floor and heard nothing behind us, the next floor after that, and then finally we heard some of the soldiers in quick pursuit after us.

Gasping for air almost out of breath, hearts racing we reached the bottom of the stairs, but we didn't stop, instead we ran into the lobby running through it and passing the reception desk while the soldier behind the desk shouted after us. We ran through the corridor, the same one we entered earlier hearing the footsteps behind us at the lobby now growing louder. By the time we reached the courtyard, over the wired fence we saw Noctowl and Leafeon over it calling to us. "Hurry, this way you two! Quickly!" with a running start, together we ran side by side and jumped together over the broken down wired fence, with all four of us reunited again, we ran together through the alley, refusing to look back at the voices of the soldier's in search for us.

Leafeon laughing as we did, both by adrenaline from almost getting caught and exhaustion by carrying two full backpacks of rations and other things nonstop until we were far away from the building, away from the soldier's, until we knew we were safe. Despite how tired we were from all of the running we did we kept on going, and with our items stored in the bags, we headed on back home.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Storage Room**

Cheering and celebration of bottles being shook up and opened at our return. A supply run that had failed not too long ago, a run we thought we would have to wait longer to receive what was once lost maybe a little less, we received a lot more, almost double than what we would've received if the last supply run had been successful.

"Great work you guys, I knew you would do it!" Jolty congratulated us four along with Eevee jumping up on his mother's back and cheered.

"Thanks, Jolty. These guys really did help out a lot. I wouldn't have made it back without them." Leafeon chuckled before moving in and nuzzling Jolty. The cheering Pokemon surrounded us, praising us, some Pokemon who had been a little cruel to me and Aqua before when we first showed up here came to us and asked for forgiveness, apologizing for treating us badly when we only just got here, they said the thing we had done for them was more than what they could offer us in return. Before it was once a handful of Pokemon who had spoken to us, but now and after this almost half growing to almost all of them over the coming week spoke to us, wanting to get to know us. Me and Aqua were surprised at this, especially with the Pokemon who we thought wouldn't get along with say all of these things to us, praising us after apologizing, saying we weren't bad Pokemon, that they were judgemental and should've been kinder when we met. Treating us like celebrities for how much they surrounded us and asking for autographs. (Okay I made up that part about the autographs, would've been odd to see.)

Noctowl was surrounded by Pokemon of his type, asking for tips on advice how to be a professional on what he did. Noctowl extended his wings out and showed them by flapping his wings how he flew without making much noise, especially in a narrow corridor or quite area.

Me and Aqua were surrounded by female of various types and uh some old enough to be your grandma flirting and saying how strong we were for going in to such dangerous places, saying that 'it was strange for me to be bringing my daughter along on a dangerous mission.' Obviously they meant Aqua, but after multiple attempts of letting them know that we and Aqua weren't related in any way, they just continued to flirt some more, some even pinched the cheek of Aqua giggling for how 'rebellious' she was whenever they reached out to her with their paws.

Over to the doorway I noticed Purrloin leaning on the door frame watching us with a smile, as if letting us take in the praise and congratulations from the Pokemon as long as we could.

"Congratulations you four, you certainly did a fine job, a job I'd say was the best I have seen in a while." Purrloin approached us, a bright and happy smile. The entire crowd silenced as she spoke. "Your efforts won't go unnoticed here; we are definitely going to celebrate on your success. That is why come tomorrow, all within the gang shall have day off from work!" The entire crowd erupted with cheers, giving everyone else more reason to come up to us and pat us on the back, messing up our fur on top of our heads. "Everyone, tonight we'll enjoy music as well as free snacks to eat, my present to all of you. A true family praises success." She said, her smile never fading, never tiring. "So enjoy tonight. The success of the supply run will indeed last us a month. So sleep knowing that in the coming weeks we will not run out of rations and supplies for quite some time."

* * *

With the success and celebration done and over with, me and Aqua headed back for our room, but first taking a little detour for the courtyard to get some fresh air, and more importantly to talk about what had happened.

"The mission went…okay. I mean it was a successful one but it was okay." She said, looking up at the stars. A rare sight because of the no leaving the hideout before dark, a rule we were already breaking if we weren't the ones on the supply run, the 'heroes' they called us for giving them food and more medication than they could ever ask for.

"Before, back in that building, you said something told you to come in the room and help me? What do you mean?" She was silent, staring at the stars a little longer as if she didn't hear me. I touched her shoulder, she looked at me. "Aqua, is something wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

She returned her head to look up at the stars, then after a moment she sighed. "Zack, I'm going to tell you something I have never told anyone else. Something I have trouble believing in myself." She cleared her throat. Looking at me when she said, "I can see into the future."

"Wha…? I don't… uh… huh?" I didn't know what to say or how to react to that. 'was it some kind of joke?' I thought at first, or maybe she was just tired after celebrating with the others on our supply run, but the look in her eyes, it told that she was being honest. "W-what makes you think you can see into the future? Couldn't all of that just been a coincidence?"

"I told you before I lived on the street with my parents, but what i never said I had always lived there. Back when I was very young, five years old, a human called a scientist kidnapped both me and my parents to this bright white room filled with bottles similar to that I see in the medical with Audino. I don't know what the scientist did to me, but he injected things into me, things that I have vague memory of, blurry ones. My parents and I woke up not too long back home in the city. No scientist, no white room. we all thought it was something to do with the attack on the city with those monsters, giving Pokemon vaccines, I don't know. But then I started having visions, blurry visions, sounds of different places, humans and Pokemon doing things, tragic events." Aqua paused for a while as she fidgeted with her paws. "Then after a while I realized that these weren't just my mind playing tricks on me, I could see the future. Things that hadn't happened yet. I thought for years I was crazy or sick, trying to shrug it off as just my mind playing tricks on me all the time, I kept telling myself that every time it happened, just a big coincidence, déjà vu… but then I saw a vision of my parents dying from a sickness that had already killed the other Pokemon. After they died I received another vision..." She looked at me with those eyes. "It was about you bleeding out on the beach… so went to the beach, and there you where. But my visions are never wrong, in my vision it was night time, but when I found you it was daytime. And you were already wearing your eye patch in the vision."

"Why would that scientist do that to you?"

Aqua shook her head. "I don't know, but one thing I do remember was that this scientist was wearing glasses, his name I remember was Valentine… I think, or Valentino… I never told anyone that because I don't want to be considered a freak to anyone else. A lab experiment…"

"I don't think so. I consider you as a good friend Aqua, the kind of friend I am more than happy to have with me in this place, to help me remember who I was." I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close towards me to hug her and she leaned on me, sighing happily.

"Hey Zack, congratulations on getting some of your memory back."

"You're welcome, Aqua."

That vision with me on the beach Aqua saw, we didn't know where that place was at first until it was too late. I was injured on the beach, a different beach far from here. So sometime soon we would leave this place. But what exactly caused me those injuries on the beach, the one Aqua saw in her vision?

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Members from the Saviors such as Lisa, Brent and Reiko appeared within this chapter in the original draft but I didn't want to give away what happened to Zack's friends after the battle.


	9. Chapter 9 Into the Dark Place

Chapter 09 – Into the Dark Place

* * *

****

**Nuvema Town – My House – My Room**

After yesterdays mission involving us four infiltrating the Savior's building and taking medical and food supplies back to our hideout, being praised for our work, relaxing and sleeping soundly at first. It started as a simple dream, a colorful dream with a blue cloudless sky above, with me lying on the green grass somewhere I had never seen before, pleasant music played one I didn't know if it were real or just snippets from one or two songs jumbled to make the one I heard in the dream. Then like a blink of an eye, everything changed and I was now sat on a bed in a room my current self had no idea where I was. It was my room in my hometown of Nuvema town. The bed hard like sitting on a pile of bricks, not soft, but uncomfortable like the room I was in. Everywhere was dark; the only light source was with an ominous red flashing light outside the window visible through the small gaps in the curtains, like a police car or something.

Suddenly at the door was an incredibly loud knocking that almost sent me jumping in my seat. A loud voice, an unrecognizable one called out to me, "We know you are in there Zack! Open the door and surrender yourself, there is no running from us. We have the place completely surrounded!"

I was in no control of my dream, my body moved on its own, everything from talking or trying to scream did nothing, so I had to watch the dream, no matter what kind of disturbing sounds I had heard or seen. "N-no… I can't let them find me… w-where are you…? Where are you L….?" My voice fell silent at a name I was calling out to. I watched as I walked over to the door and opened it with some unforeseen force, something that surrounded the door handle with a strange purple-like energy of some kind turning it and pulling the door wide open.

Outside of my room instead of the hallway, the scene changed immediately and I found myself in the kitchen downstairs, a room with splatters of blood on the walls and the fridge, with some trailing out of the back door leading out into the backyard. But like with the corridor outside of my room, there was nothing but darkness outside it. Maybe this dream was remembering what it could about my house, what it was trying to remember after losing all of it. I was inside a bedroom, inside a kitchen, no photos or drawings to be inspired on this dream. Looking back to where the living room was, I only saw two sets of couches in an 'L' shape with a TV standing on a large coffee table in the corner of the room facing the two couches, static appeared on the screen. Interacting with it proved useless since all the buttons were all stuck, as if someone had painted them on a wall. Outside of the thick curtains, the same ominous red glow illuminated the two rooms, the banging on the door continued, growing louder with each knock, with each loud voice from the other side, demanding the door to be opened.

"Zack Raines! If you do not open the door right now, we will be forced to open this door and open fire!" I didn't recognize the voice. It was man's voice, shouting with a raspy voice, demanding the door to be opened. But I refused to approach it; I was scared for some reason. Scared that if I did open the door something bad would happen. Instead I watched my dream self run towards the back door. Before I reached the door, I heard the same voice behind me after knocking down the door, "Zack Raines, enemy sighted! Open fire!" followed by gunfire.

When I had passed the darkness, I was running along a dark street. It was dark out, no clouds, no stars, no moonlight, only the source of light while running through the street were the street lights as if guiding me further up the street to… somewhere. The buildings displayed signs, gibberish signs that changed every time I looked at them, changing color, the fonts, even city signs from Castelia City I had recognized from yesterdays supply run.

"Don't give up, Zack!" I heard a voice above me. To me at that time I only heard a female call out to me. But before I lost my memory, I knew her as Espeon, my friend. "Don't forget who you are! Fight it!" followed by screams of another.

"Where is Zack?" I heard a voice behind me. Again it was the same voice as that man knocking at the door. I looked back, I saw nothing but the many street lights I had passed before. He sounded close, as if he were right behind me.

"Stop, stand down Zack!" it was another voice I didn't recognize. A voice almost hidden amongst the firings of guns, then laughter from another as screams were now heard as the guns stopped one by one

When I was running, listening to those voices, I noticed something when passed one of the many buildings, a large sign visible by the light hanging on a building, a sign unlike the others, I could read it unlike the other signs I had seen, but the beginning wasn't complete, it said 'N… Town' then as soon as I saw that, I saw the sign again, but this time it was hanging near a hill at the edge of a forest town I think.

I continued to focus on that sign, even after running further away from it, as if it were the most important thing in the world, then I turned back at the sound of another voice. A voice which sent chills at the back of my spine. "Did you ever realize…. that she was pregnant? It would be a shame if a claw or three pierced her flesh. Right about here will do." A voice chuckled, followed by a loud high pitched scream as if someone were in agony. The more I ran through the streets expecting the source of the voice to be located, expecting the voices to grow louder as if getting closer to them, to save them, they never did get closer, only further away no matter where I ran.

Then the ground started to shake, I lost my balance and fell. But instead of falling onto the road, the ground shattered into many pieces falling into the darkness below. Everywhere was dark, no more voices, nothing to see. And then I woke up.

My eyes opened wide. The room was slightly dim. After calming down a little and searching my surroundings I found myself back in our room again at the hideout. Aqua had already lit the candle before I woke and she was looking at me with concern, or worry, perhaps both. I felt my heart beating fast like it was about to burst out from my chest any moment. After the dream I had, I was glad to have woken up. The bizarre things I had saw, heard, voices I didn't recognize then all saying this and that, most would spark another reaction than just confusion, but these were memories I was hearing, things I had heard, seen before, some parts of my life presented out to this Dewott, me who knew nothing of it.

"You were having a nightmare." She said handing me a bottle of water for me to drink and wiping my forehead with a wet towel for how hot I was becoming. "You were screaming so loud. D-do you want to talk about it?"

After taking a sip of water from the bottle, I paused and stared in front of me, towards the darkened wall, unsure how to answer that. It wasn't a scary dream, it was… odd. Hearing voices, running through locations I hadn't- then it hit me 'locations' maybe the locations I saw in the dream could point me in the right direction to where we had to go. I remembered things, the name of the place started with the letter 'N' and ended with 'town' could that be a place I had been before? Was it important to me? "Aqua, I think in the dream… I think I remember a place I had been to before. It was a town, beginning with the letter 'N' I was walking around there, s-something happened there…" I shook my head, breathed in and out slowly to calm myself down from what I saw in the dream. "I'm alright, it wasn't anything bad I don't think. But I'm okay. Was I saying anything?"

"No not really, it was mostly screaming and whimpers. From how you were sounding, the screaming and flailing your arms around, it looked like it was a horrible dream."

"I was?" I said as she nodded her head. "Oh, uh, I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"It's fine. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Aqua. It was an odd dream, scared me a little. Well… it confused me more than scare me. I remember about the dream that I heard voices, voices I can't really must on what they said, running around a street, then seeing that sign 'N something-something town' on top of a hill. Then I woke up after hearing something behind me in the dream."

"Zack, If we do find a location in that map book starting with the letter 'n' do you think maybe we could stay a little while until we get everything ready first?" She asked. "With the food, supplies, and learning medical? I'm almost done with beginner, I should be ready the advance and done with it by the end of the week."

"I thought you wanted to leave this place." I said, lightly pushing her by the shoulder with my paw. "Did you change your mind?"

"Nope, haven't changed my mind on wanting to leave this place." She said as she pushed me by the shoulder. "But, I have really taken a liking to medical. I want at least to learn more about it before we leave. So if you do get injured while we are out of here, I want to help you rather than apply a potion or wrap a bandage around you all sloppily, giving you more damage and only making things worse. I want to do things right. So learning a little more will be good for us."

"Yeah, we need to get ourselves some more supplies. We need to plan on how to get there, which route to take and how much food and water would be required for the journey."

"So tomorrow we'll plan things out, if we can find a town starting with the letter 'n'" she pointed to the map book, but lay back down on the bed rubbing her eyes. "Let's get some sleep. I'm too tired right now."

"Sure. We'll check it out in the morning."

We didn't check inside the map book that night, we were still exhausted from the supply run yesterday. But in the morning we would check the N section of the book in search of towns beginning with the letter 'N' it may have not been the thing I was hoping on looking, a pleasant memory or a glimpse would've sufficed than find the name in a nightmare, especially with the things I had seen and heard, the screaming and sounds of agony.

If there was a towns name starting with the letter 'N' in the book, which would give us something, if that place we went to, would I find answers there? That building, the Savior's building seemed to have ignited some memory about my life before I lost it all. I wanted to go back to see if I could find more about myself. But with those soldiers around, especially after me and Aqua had attacked two of them, those soldiers might recognize us and probably attack us, maybe kill us. So that place was totally off limits.

All we could do now was sleep, when we wake up we would search inside the book for that town, and probably take a chance at it being the closest thing I had on finding answers about who I once was, and where I came from, why I was injured, and more.

* * *

****

**Castelia City - Eastern Gate**

Meanwhile, just outside of the eastern city gate were twelve armed soldiers with a set up barricade, a black truck with two injured soldiers inside resting on a bed, but moaning in agony from the attack inside the Savior's building me and Aqua had given them. The captain of the team was walking up and down the barricade, watching his men patrol the surrounding area, trying to ignore the smug look of a scientist he despised near the truck with a laptop on his lap.

The captain of the team approached the bed set up by the truck parked right outside the eastern gate of the city. Two soldiers lying on the bed were injured during the clean out of the Savior's building; a job he assumed would be an easy one since no one was supposed to be inside. A three hour job of gathering all of the documents they needed; plans. Blueprints; files on Savior members, just a collecting mission and they would be out and back to base in no time. But the news of intruders in the building had garnered the boss's attention. Not because of the intruders in the building, but because of what the soldier's who were attacked had said; 'white Dewott with red and black eyes, multiple injuries on the body' something the captain didn't understand why this was important to the boss, why she asked multiple times if the soldiers were accurate with this news, who was with the Dewott at the time. The captain believed at first the boss would punish him for letting the intruders escape with whatever it was inside their bags they were carrying, that his men should've been more alert, but not this.

The captain removed his helmet, letting the cool air hit his face for the first time that day after a long fifteen hours of searching the building and the surrounding area nonstop for the intruders. His face intimidating at first glance, a face of scars from previous battles fought, a face that showed only aggression was now a face which showed pure fear, and for the first time in a while he feared for his life. Trying to ease the tension through breathing methods, trying to relax by any means failed his anxiety on meeting the boss after what had happened was making things worse for him. Nothing he did or relaxation technique he could think of could prepare him for his boss, she was the kind of boss who saw failure as the worse thing anyone could do in her army. "T-try to breathe… c-c'mon you can do this… try to relax damnit!" Then he saw her in the sky above the buildings approach at high speeds. "Oh no…"

A shiny Latias flew down to the street and approached the captain and silently waited for him to speak, glaring the longer he stared at her. The Latias was known as Shiny Latias, the leader of Team Doom, a group that had tried to take control over the Unova region, one of our enemies I had faced alongside my friends before my memory was wiped clean. Before my memory was lost, I remember Shiny Latias used her ability on me; an ability for whoever should ever look at her in her eyes would be controlled by her to do whatever she commanded. She had used her ability, controlled me to enter the dark place a state in which most Psychic types can use to enter their own mind and train to strengthen their Psychic type moves as well as other moves. But entering the dark place can be dangerous, if you entered the dark palce and stood up; your mind would become lost, perhaps never again returned to you. She used her ability and forced me to stand while in the dark palce state, and I lost my memory. I should've been dead. Shiny Latias had me right in her grasp, yet I survived and ended up washed dup covered in scars and a left eye completely damaged.

Shiny Latias' face was almost concealed completely by a helmet similar to the ones the soldiers wear, but the visor was open and her eyes visible for her to use her ability whenever she wanted. "Boss, two of my soldier's was attacked yesterday when we were taking everything we could out of the building that would prove useful to us…" The captain watched as Shiny Latias levitated over to one of the injured soldiers with the face smashed in, but he was still alive, she then turned to the other soldier and lifted up his leg and examined the injury, ignoring the soldiers cries as she carelessly twisted and turned his leg to get a better look. "The two were attacked by two Pokemon; one a female shiny Oshawott, and a male Dewott with white fur, black and red eyes, they also said he was wearing an eye patch over the left eye, and finally they said he could speak human language. Well they claim that, but I really don't believe that kind've thing happened. Our soldier's wouldn't allow anyone or anything to enter-" Shiny Latias glared at the captain and approached him, and spoke with a raspy voice. "I believe I know this Dewott, an enemy I have been searching for, for some time now wanting to reuse him as my weapon. Now look me in the eye as you speak to me, captain." The captain was reluctant to do so, but was forced when she had used Psychic against him, turning his head up at Latias and the two locked eyes, but didn't use her ability. "I want him found. Gather your men, search every building in this vile city, in every alley, everywhere until you find and bring me Zack Raines alive. Everyone else who stands in my way must die. Understand?"

"Y-yes boss. I promise you we'll search every inch of this city for the Dewott. We won't stop until we do."

"Good." Latias levitated away from the captain and over towards the soldier's preparing for their next mission. "If Zack really alive, I wonder how he'll react when he sees what I have done to his precious Latias? Ooh, I cannot wait until I have him, then I can begin to torture him before making him my weapon to take over this region. Like a child too excited to sleep to wake up in the morning to open their Christmas presents… I cannot wait. Maybe in the meantime I shall resume torture on Zack's friends, at least until I get the news of his capture." Latias turned back at the captain, still trapped in her Psychic hold.

"Captain, I'm giving you a week to do so. Failure to do so will result in your quick death, followed by your daughter. Or better yet I'll use my ability to make you do it. And then you can decide whether to kill yourself over the loss of your daughter, or live knowing you killed your only child. I mean, what else have you got to live for if you fail?" she chuckled, releasing him from her psychic hold before flying away to parts unknown, leaving the captain shaking, frozen with fear.

"My, my, you seem to be frozen in fear at her words, captain. But will her threats actually motivate you and your team to actually work harder this time?" The captain snarled as he heard a voice from one of the many he didn't like within the team working alongside him. Leo Valentine, a scientist who once worked for Team Annihilation years ago, one of the few who had worked on creating the Reanimated Corpses. He was a smug man, a man with high intelligence, mocking and looking down on others who were 'dumber' than him. he took pleasure in others sufferings, relished the idea of creating a new specimen, altered Pokemon, humans, anything that would create suffering for others. His lab coat he wore proudly wasn't required out in the field, he just liked to wear it to show off to the others, or simply state 'I am a scientist, you fools!' or secretly saying 'I am far more intelligent than you!' his glasses were shining the suns light into the captain's eyes, purposely or not, the captain had to keep his cool. Shiny Latias had ordered Valentine to carefully watch the captain as he worked, all with a smug face at every decision he ever made whether it was a good one or bad one, Valentine chuckled, possibly saying behind it 'I could've done better than you', and the captain didn't like that.

But the captain knew he couldn't hurt him, he was here to see to it that he didn't fail. If he did fail, valentine would become the next in line to lead the small army to hunt down the target. And Shiny Latias still needed him alive.

"Listen to me you smug little bastard; I will not fail this mission. I will find the Dewott and bring him back to the boss alive."

"That remains to be seen." Valentine sighed, adjusting him glasses. "But you know…" Valentine pulled out a leaflet his coat pocket and handed it to the captain. His eyes had widened at what he saw; 'How to cope with loss' "You'll probably want a head start on this. Cause at this rate, I see that daughter of your living a short life."

The captain grabbed the scientist by his collar with one hand and his other raised up high ready to punch him in his smug face, their faces inches apart as he glared, wanting so much to see that smug face gone. "Careful captain, it's not me you should be worried about. If I were you, I would be worried about your daughter; your success depends on her life. At this very moment you waste precious seconds when you could be ordering your men to search the city. What's more important to you; your daughter, or punching me?" He chuckled. "And just to clear; if you do end up hurting me in anyway, I'll let Shiny Latias know about your brutal behavior against your own men, that you're work speed is slow. I could then convince the boss to give you motivation o work faster, and treat your men with respect."

The captain glared at him for a moment before pushing him back. "Men, search the area, set up barricades near the eastern exit of the city. I want that Dewott found! You," he pointed at another solider standing to the side. "I want you to call in more soldiers; we are going to need a lot more to sweep this city."

"Yes sir!"

The captain looked back at Valentine to find him again with a smug face staring back at him, a face as if to say 'you will fail at this' but the captain walked away from him down the street with his men to scan the area. He refused to give up, he refused to allow Valentine to win. He'd stay up all night to search the entire city. no way was he going to allow Valentine take over, no way was the captain's daughter going to die. But were to start? How long would it take for his men to search the city for the target? The goal was a week, the size of the city and with this many men with him, he would need more, lots more in order for him to search the city, in every building, in every back alley. More men would arrive tomorrow, so now all he could do was work twice as hard until they arrive.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Shiny Latias wasn't originally mean to appear within the story yet, I was actually saving her for a much later section of the story, fully healed from the injuries of their last battle.


	10. Chapter 10 Preparing Ourselves

Chapter 10 – Preparing Ourselves

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Our Room – Aqua's POV**

I had mentioned before that I could see visions of the future, events that have not yet occurred presented to me like a scene from a movie. it was like watching a recent memory, you can't remember the exact details, but you remember most of the important things; faces, locations, sometimes the time of day.

The visions I had showed me when something bad would happen, the event and who would be involved, how it would happen. I don't recall my first ever vision, but I do remember parts of it to try and make something out of it; it had something to do with a human living in Castelia city walking in the street on a rainy afternoon. The human was attacked by a wild Houndoom, bit his leg just above the ankle. Then another vision a week later involving a woman, an elderly woman falling down some stairs, small stairs but was with others when it happened. Then another about the start of the gangs within the city, kidnappings and attacks all of us had to be on the lookout fort when playing. After seeing this I had refused to leave my parents to play around the corner of the alley fearing the kidnapping the gangs of the city did to whoever they found never to be seen again.

But the visions I had seen were not set in stone, I could change it, and I did a few times. First time it happened was the third kidnapping of a young Pokemon, a friend I once knew growing up in the city. I was with my parents at the time the vision happened. The vision showed me another pokemon from a gang greet the young Pokemon, talk for a little while before carrying him off back to their gang. So after the vision, I quickly told my parents… about seeing something else around the corner that shouldn't belong, an intruder. Because saying I had visions to them would've possibly ended up with them saying 'stop telling tales' something I have heard from them many times before.

I don't know if changing the future would make things worse or alter it so something bad would happen to them again at a much later date, but it didn't stop me from trying. Visions played out and again I tried to help them, earning a title by others my age as 'the luckiest Pokemon ever' for helping them whenever something bad would happen. But luck wouldn't help them when the sickness began spreading throughout the alley like a plague leaving me and only me alive while everyone I knew and loved dead.

I didn't leave to go to the beach right away; I stayed somewhere else until I thought on what I should do next, where I could go. I found a smaller alley behind a store, or a t the side of one near the main street, fearing on encountering a gang member and being taken away. I had a vision, a vision I saw happen on a beach at night time. I was inside a cave watching a Dewott, a white Dewott wearing an eye patch over the left eye with black and red eyes lying on the beach bleeding badly from head to toe beside many Pokemon, all dead. I saw myself throwing my scalchop down on the sand running up to him and holding him close, calling out his name, desperate for him to open his eye. After the vision had ended, I remembered seeing a beach somewhere south of the city, a place my father wanted to take me to teach me how to swim but never got the chance.

I didn't know what time it was or where about my vision would take place, I just assumed since a beach was involved, that maybe it was the beach of Castelia City towards the southern section, a rather dangerous area filled with many gang members, mainly the location of 'The Cruel One's' so I ran for it hoping to find Zack before someone else got to him first.

I remembered when I did arrive at the beach, not night time so it was a little early for me. And there I was thinking that I should've just stayed back in the alley and waited for nightfall. I almost turned back until I noticed something washed up on shore, and there he was, Zack bleeding like was in my vision, only he wasn't wearing an eye patch and it wasn't night. I asked if he was alright, but then I was knocked out by Pokemon, taking me and Zack back to the gang we are a part of, until at least Zack remembers where he came from.

Last night Zack had a nightmare, he was screaming, shouting incoherent words I couldn't make out. I crawled out of bed, stumbling in the darkness for a short moment before lighting the candle almost eradicating the darkness to see Zack flailing his arms around. I tried to call out to him, but that didn't seem to work even in the slightest. I tried to get close to him, but I was cautious on getting too close not wanting myself to get hit by Zack moving his arms around like that. Then he bolted up now awake, breathing heavily as he scanned the room. He told me about his nightmare, hearing voices, running through a street he wasn't familiar with. But what he did point out in the dream was a sign that he saw, a sign beginning with the letter 'N' and ending with 'town' he also mentioned that he saw a hill near the edge of a town with the sign hanging below it. Maybe we would find answers somewhere in the map book. We were too tired to do and had to wait until morning, then after that if we found the name of that town in the book we would head to the painting class to meet Leafeon and tell her the news about our discovery.

The morning came and it was me who woke up first, lighting the candle of the room and preparing breakfast for ourselves which consisted of snacks we had bought from the marketplace, cookies, crackers, potato chips, a bag full of candy, dried fruit… yeah, we needed to get more healthier food than this… After waking Zack up and having our food, we delved right into the book towards the middle section where we would find the 'N' section. First came up Nacrene City which was east of the city, just past a forest called Pinwheel Forest. Sure it doesn't have 'Town' on it, but you never know that location might have some memory behind it that'll help Zack in some way… maybe. Next was Nimbasa City up north of Castelia and past Route 4. Maybe something was there since it was close to this city. From looking at the pictures; attractions, theme parks, the bright looking buildings in the book, maybe Zack and his trainer went there a few times.

Then lastly was the only location starting with 'N' ending with 'Town' in the map book; Nuvema Town, almost south east of Castelia city. Zack held up the book closer as he looked at the town entrance, a hill with a sign hanging from a post overlooking the entire town. "This is it!" he exclaimed, pointing at the image. "That was the same hill and sign I saw, well except for the Nuvema part of it, but this was the one I saw in the dream. C-could this place be where I came from?"

"'Nuvema Town.'" I read, checking the distance between this city and the town. "We would get there in two days if we walked."

"If it is the one from my dream." He sighed, staring down at the page of Nuvema Town. "Maybe the town's name, this exact hill was something my dream picked up on was because I saw this page when we first got it, that all of this will just lead us to nowhere, and this town doesn't mean anything to me."

"W-well, we can still try." I said, touching his arm with my paw to comfort him. "I don't know if Nuvema Town is an important place to you or not, but we can still try at least. If not we'll just keep on looking elsewhere." After a quick glance down on the page of Nuvema Town, I noticed there was a Pokemon Laboratory somewhere in the town, a place where young trainers obtain a starter Pokemon from; Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. So maybe that was where Zack came from. "This Pokemon Laboratory, it is where humans get their starter Pokemon from. It could be where you're from. It's worth a shot."

"Alright." He nodded his head. "But when do we leave this place? We still have a few things left to get from the marketplace."

I thought about it, the kind of stuff we would need to be bringing with us; some more food and water, a lot more than two days worth should this Nuvema Town be a dead end and like Zack said was just something his dream picked up on, false information. Matches to light a fire for when we camp, and medical supplies. But one thing we needed for when we were out there was another thing me and Zack lacked; how to defend ourselves. "We could get all of the things we need by our next visit to the marketplace, but first we need to be ready for when we actually do leave this palce, we need to learn how to defend ourselves should we be attacked or if a human tries to capture us. We gotta learn some moves first."

"Well you got that Razor Shell move down, you just gotta master it, or at least get the hang of how to use it efficiently. We could go to the marketplace today to get ourselves some TMs before heading to the gym to train?"

"Are you sure we have enough?" I said, remembering how ridiculously high those TMs cost in the marketplace, almost four days worth of food for how much they were asking for, we barely had enough for two, the amount we were saving up for when we left this place.

"When I was working in storage the other day, because of how much I was loading onto the carts, Purrloin gave me more caps, more than enough for us to buy what we need for when we leave this place, and we can buy ourselves two TMs each if we want." At least caps weren't going to be a problem for us then. We could buy ourselves everything we needed and still have caps leftover should we be delayed by another day or two.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Painting Room**

Before we made our way over to the marketplace we headed first to the painting room were the activity obviously painting was being held by Leafeon with her son Eevee being her only student before we entered. The room was a lot larger and brighter than any other room we had been in the hideout; the walls had many paintings on by past members, paintings of flowers mostly, of Pokemon or possibly of themselves, buildings from the city, and clouds. There were many boxes stacked neatly beside the corner of the room labelled 'paint' 'brushes' and 'paper' with a bucket of water next to it for Pokemon to clean their paws. The room was large enough to hold two tables, each with four sheets of paper lined up on four sides with a set of brushes and tray with many colors of paint in the middle.

"Oh, hey you two! Glad you could make it!" Leafeon exclaimed as she walked over to us with a bright smile, offering us a seat beside Eevee as he used his paws to paint from what appeared to be a rainbow. "We just about started today's class. Just sit at the table Eevee is at and get to it. But you better hurry though, Eevee uses up a lot of paint, and I mean he paints really fast, so fast he can almost go through fifty pieces of paper within the hour." As we approached the table and sat down, Eevee had already finished with the rainbow painting and was already halfway painting a house with his paw. With the rate he was going, not only will all of the pieces of paper be all gone but the paint will run dry leaving us with either an empty piece each, or with an unfinished piece.

Zack picked up a brush and started painting by using the blue paint first. I picked up my own brush and used the green paint to… well I hadn't really thought of what I was going to paint. Grass probably, maybe paint a tree in some field of grass was my first thought. Or maybe be creative with this painting stuff and paint a green sun, or a green Pikachu? I looked at Zack's painting to see he was halfway painting a castle of some kind with a really tall tower, just needed to be filled in to be finished, or it was almost done from the looks of it.

"Having trouble there, Aqua?" Leafeon sat next to me as she examined my blank sheet of paper. "I see you have the green paint. Could start off by setting down some grass at the bottom and work your way up if you want to do some nature paintings."

"How did you get into painting?" I asked her, beginning to press the brush soaked with green paint down on the paper gently.

"Believe it or not, but it was Jolty who showed me how to paint." She smiled. "Back when we first met, Jolty had a strong love for art. Showing me these books he found or bought here on different art styles, famous paintings from around the world and wanted to teach me how. Now I wasn't good at it at first, and I wasn't sure if I would like painting for how much my paws always needed to be cleaned for how much or how little paint got on my paws. My first painting was… a swirl. A big fat blue swirl in the center of the piece of paper all to the way of the edge of the paper." Leafeon chuckled at the thought, shaking her head. "Then Jolty got up in front of me and was like 'now you will love painting as much as I do. Wooooo!' As if he were hypnotising me. His hypnotising didn't work, but I did enjoy painting and so here. You may be wondering why Jolty isn't here if he loves painting, well you see he uh, he works almost nonstop to provide for us, and since we don't get any cash for working at these activities, he sees it as a waste of time so he can quickly earn enough caps to get the things we need."

"Do you have a lot joining in on the activity here?" I asked, expecting a few more to appear at some point.

Leafeon shook her head. "Not much. Three a week, sometimes two a month depending on how things work within the hideout. How well a supply run is the mood of the place, it various. I'm surprised Purrloin or her goons haven't showed up here and threatened to close down this place due to how little activity we get here or how much paper and paint we go through a week." She said looking over at Eevee, giggling and finishing up his fifth artwork today, morning onto his sixth. "I don't want that to happen though, I want Eevee to…" She paused; a sad frown replaced her happy one a moment ago. She sighed before continuing, talking in a low voice so her son couldn't hear. "I just wish things could change here." She shook her head and smiled once more, praising her son for his new painting. Zack had finished up his painting of a blue castle with some kind of bright light or sun at the top of the tall tower, something he said he just thought up. My painting was a simple one, a tree in the middle of a grassy field, all green, clouds and all. Both of our paintings got a spot on the wall by the door. That way, those who enter the room who leave it will see it as the first thing they'll see… possibly.

"Nice work you two, you certainly have a knack for painting. You should come by again tomorrow if you want to turn from beginner to a pro in no time. Or if you just want fun, then you know where we are." She said as she helped clean up the tables with Eevee, placing the used brushes in the tray of water. "You two going to the feast tonight? Me and Noctowl can't hog all of the praise from the supply run yesterday. They would want to hear about what happened to you two up there with those human soldiers." Me and Zack looked at one another first. Zack and I nodded, and agreed to be there tonight. Leafeon told us she would meet us there and offered us a seat at her and Jolty's table along with Noctowl, Audino and Metagross.

Before we left for the marketplace, I looked back at Leafeon stroking her sons head, congratulating him on how much he had painted in under an hour, a smile that felt… sad. But Leafeon, she wasn't sad that the activity room wasn't getting enough to join up, she wanted things to change. But what it was would be something me and Zack would find out soon about this place, why no one leaves despite the kind of Pokemon they are with. It was why she and everyone else that wasn't Purrloin's bodyguards wanted to leave.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Marketplace**

Moves, possibly just over a hundred of different moves we could learn, but only learn four in total before forgetting one to learn the other. At least that was what I was told by my mother when I was young wanting to know about moves, how they are learnt and how they become stronger over time. Fortunately the TMs were set up on the counter by type; on the left from the right were Electric, Water, Flying, Grass, Psychic, Fire, Dark, Fairy, Dragon, Steel, Rock, Bug, and Poison giving us an easier time to locate each move. But unfortunately there wasn't any description about the moves we read from what was given; Thunder, Water Gun, Hydro Pump, Leach See, Reflect, only titles, no description on what it does or how it can be used. Only the title and the price the seller was offering.

Zack and I looked at each other and shrugged. So it had come to this then, getting two moves we thought sounded best based on the title of the move. I would be helping Zack and teach him how to use Razor Shell as best as I could. With the little experience I had with the move, he and I together would learn the move faster together. Zack chose Protect and Scald. Scald being one of the cheapest moves available, and Protect he said sounded like it would help us out while we were out on the road. I chose the move Double Team as my first choice which I thought at first was to create a copy of myself to help in battle to actually inflict either some damage to the enemy or assist us in some way, not an illusionary copy to fool the enemy, but I guess it'll work should we need to escape or too actually fool our foes. And the next move I chose was Ice Beam, not really knowing how difficult this move would give me in the future to learn it fully rather than sloppily and off track when trying to aim in a straight line.

With our items bought, we headed for the gym to begin on learning how to use these moves ready for whatever would stop us while we were out there, out of the city.

This was good, soon we would be out of here, out of this city… it's strange, for the first time I would leave this city, my home. I had never known anything beyond the city walls, and knowing soon we would be leaving made my stomach feel as though there were Butterfree's inside. I didn't know what to expect; amazed, surprised, shocked, I guess mostly I was nervous about it all. With Zack with me, I felt safer, calmer. I wasn't going to let him down, I was going to give it my all to learn all I could about medical before the week was over, train as much as I could alongside him to protect each other for whatever dangers we would face.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia**-Lucian was killed off in the first draft of this chapter with Zack beating Lucian to death because he had threatened Aqua. He was originally a minor villain in the early parts of the story, never to be seen again later.


	11. Chapter 11 Preparations

AN: Just to let you know the next chapter may be a little late and next week might not have a chapter uploaded, so sorry about that. So here's the latest chapter. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 11 – Preparations

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Training Room**

Releasing the cap and tilting the TM tube to slide down the paper scroll from within we read the instructions on how to use the moves we could learn or at least try to, that is after buying our TMs the seller remarked 'good luck on those moves, if they are compatible with you that is.' before we left. We had to check it with the other Pokemon here at the hideout to find out if these moves would work with us instead of them being a waste of our caps. Most of them we met that wasn't a bodyguard of Purrloin told us that we could learn them, the rest told us that the moves either wouldn't work on us, it was a waste to learn any moves while living here, or offering us caps in exchange for the moves… almost fifty percent less caps than what we spent at the marketplace.

The room back in the days was an actual training room for trainers to help their Pokemon get a little stronger before leaving or waiting while another Pokemon was being treated. The room had a few punching bags hung up, pull up bars near the far left wall area where most fighting types liked to hang out. A fighting ring in the center for all Pokemon to practice their moves, today thankfully no one was in line to use it, giving us first chance at using these moves… if we could that is before this place would become packed which it did most days.

Sitting on the benches near the fighting ring we read the scrolls of our first moves we wanted to learn first, Aqua with Double Team, and me with Protect. On the scrolls it displayed the instructions on how Pokemon should use the move; how much energy to use, the posture, and the step-by-step instruction on how to perform the move. My Protect showed that I had to either hold up one or both paws up in front of me and concentrate on my 'power within' from what it said, and try to imagine myself surrounded by a bubble protecting me from all physical harm. I climbed into the fighting ring before grabbing a training dummy placing it on the opposite side and tried to imagine I was being attacked by this thing hoping it would speed things up and Protect would be done and I could move on to the next move. This was a move before I lost my memory I had learned it with Espeon, a move which helped me a lot during my first year as a Dewott to fight against Team Doom. Was it a coincidence that I picked that move first to learn at the marketplace? Or was it something in the back of my head telling me that I already knew this move, the rest of my memory calling to me?

They say that learning moves without these TMs require a lot of time and experience, but learning moves from TMs increases the time and within the hour a new move will be learnt to the Pokemon. So two hours later Aqua and I would both have our moves learnt and after that we would train to make them stronger ready for when we leave. Since the moves we were learning weren't physical ones, we got into the fighting ring and practiced our moves together on opposite sides of the ring to give ourselves some space. She learnt her move within forty minutes after following the scrolls instructions she read thirty times to make sure she got it right. First there was only her standing on the opposite side of the ring, then after some concentration, the stance she had used, how she focused her power from within creating at first another optical illusion of herself in the same stance standing beside her, then another, and another until four Aqua's stood side by side the real Aqua with the same stance. All five simultaneously looked at me and smiled but only one voice I could amongst the five. "Zack, I did it! I got Double Team done" she cheered, and then slowly the four other Aqua illusions faded until there were only one Oshawott standing on the opposite side. "I'm going to go and learnt the next move! Better hurry up Zack!" She giggled as she hopped out of the ring and cracked open the TM tube and tilted it for the scroll to slide out, and she read the instructions on how to use Ice Beam. And since Ice Beam would in fact inflict damage if used on another Pokemon, and there being only the one ring, I had to hurry up and learn Protect and get out before I turned into a frozen Dewott Popsicle.

It was a little tough at first, almost impossible from the looks of it since the instructions told me to try to imagine myself being surrounded by a bubble I created using my energy. Not really knowing what to do or how to create this 'energy' I just tried with whatever I could. Then to surprise, after what felt like the millionth try I noticed a strange purple-like energy appear in front at first, a weak power struggling to stay alive, then finally it expanded and wrapped around me until like it had said on the instructions it would, it did. I was surrounded by a bubble of energy, a move known as Protect. "H-hey, Aqua! I did it!" I smiled, excited that I could use the move, trying to look over my shoulder to get a lot at Aqua while keeping up with my Protect as long as I could to get used to it. I heard clapping behind me; I didn't need to look who it was who had been clapping.

"Hurray! You did it, Zack! You did it!" Aqua cheered. Then I heard something being thrown onto the bubble, Aqua was throwing the TMs cap at the Protect, but every time something struck it, it bounced off and back onto the ground. Things were going well. With the moves we had learnt today, we would be prepared for the day when we leave the hideout in search for who I was.

So here is a training montage. Aqua after reading the instructions on how to use Ice Beam, she stood in the ring, took up form and harnessed her strength from within, held both of her paws up to her chest as a ball of what appeared to be an ice ball formed at her paws before shooting a beam of ice at whatever it was she was aiming at. The training dummy was the target, and she hit it directly freezing it within seconds. Then again at another training dummy, and then another until she could get it right, to use it without difficulty, without forgetting how to use it. Using the right form to use Ice Beam by memory took some time. Double Team and Ice Beam's stances were somewhat similar if Aqua moved her right foot a little forward when using Double Team, a mistake she had sometimes done when in a test battle to defeat the training dummy as fast as possible, or without getting hit, or use as little moves as she possibly could.

My move Scald was the quickest to learn if not the easiest. With the fighting ring cleared and cleaned up of the ice, from the instructions I followed the steps. Stand with feet flat on the surface, one paw, palms facing the target below the neck, and the other at the stomach. Move both paws together (normal speed, not too fast in case of self harm) and quickly push them apart away from the chest. Concentrate with your power within as hot boiling water appears in front of you to shoot at the target. I must've done that five times or so before I actually got it. The move appeared out as a small droplet of water, and then grew into a large ball of water the size of my head, shooting it directly at the training dummies head.

Then to my surprise after a quick break, Aqua taught me how to use the move Razor Shell. Without TMs giving us instructions this would take some time, and time we had until the feast tonight. We clearly had all day to do this, ain't nothing else to do around this place, so we might as well do this now rather than later when we need it. Not only was I the only one learning this move, but Aqua was, or at least trying to get the hang of it, taking up a form she liked; holding the scalchop with both paws and keeping the Razor Shell low down near the ground in a low stance. My stance was mid stance for only the one scalchop. I know I had two but I seemed to have trouble using both of them so I only just used the one, using the second scalchop should I be disarmed or lose the other. Our moves; me with Protect, Scald, Razor Shell, and Aqua with her own Razor Shell, Ice Beam, and Double Team were learnt in a single day… a training session which lasted us nearly four hours, we weren't done with it yet however, we still needed to train in order to make our moves a lot stronger, ready for whatever dangers we might face. With Aqua's medical she would have enough time to train in between each session. And me since storage was empty with no new boxes for some time and enough caps to last us a week, I could train as much as I could and plan the journey.

For Aqua; learn medical and train. For me: plan out the route and train. A week of doing all of that worry free should be a breeze until we could leave…

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Dining Hall**

Purrloin had gathered as many Pokemon within the hideout as she could for the feast, a celebration for the success of the supply run Leafeon, Noctowl, Aqua, and I completed together gathering many things we needed to get through the coming month. It was a feast lit by candle light with an orchestra playing on a radio somewhere within the room loudly setting the mood… a somewhat quiet and happy mood. There were many tables for four Pokemon to sit at, most full, some with two or three Pokemon able to sit at, and a rare amount empty. But one table me and Aqua had found at the corner of the big room were the table Leafeon, her mate Jolty, and their son Eevee, with Noctowl sitting at waiting for us to arrive before they would eat. Then Audino and Metagross appeared and joined in crowding the table way too much for eight Pokemon to fit at a table meant for four, but we tried to fit in as best we could.

"So you two, I heard from a little flying type that you two were working on your new moves all day in the training room." Leafeon began as we sat down at this crowded table. "It must've been some intense training. Learn any new moves?"

"I learnt Double Team and Ice Beam today." Aqua said as she sat at my left side rather tightly so her presence was known at the table rather than a voice behind us. "Zack learnt Scald and Protect from the TMs we bought at the marketplace. But I taught him how to use Razor Shell all on my own without TM scrolls. We're going to go back sometime soon in the week to get better at them."

"You know, I'm surprised you two got out of that situation without using moves almost. Any other Pokemon would've have used any move to get themselves out of the situation you had been in." Leafeon said trying to keep her son beside her instead of running off somewhere away from the table. "Especially with human soldiers. They can be unpredictable at times, but easy to flee from if you can use moves to do so. I remember one point when a human and their three Pokemon tried to capture me, now I only knew the moves Tackle and Tail Whip at the time. I defeated them all before fleeing. I guess I was too strong for them to handle."

"Three Pokemon by yourself? I doubt it..." We heard Jolty say under his breath. Leafeon cast him a look.

"Are you giving me lip, mister? Cause if you are, then I'll drag your tail outta here out back and knock you out till next Tuesday!" Leafeon held up both of her paws and playfully struck at Jolty pretending to hit him.

"Aw, c'mon I was just joking with you! I know you're a strong one!" He laughed, playing along with her by pretending to punch her back while blocking some of her own playful strikes. Then Leafeon stood up and tackled him down on the ground pinning him with her paws. "Ouch, I give, I give!"

Audino chuckled at their antics, a rare thing to see from the two of them around the hideout. On first meetings, you would only meet a Leafeon who is open and friendly, an Umbreon who is quiet and not in the mood to speak much. But after some time and trust they act like themselves in front of others. If it is with six or seven Pokemon they are familiar with but with one or more then they don't do things like this. I guess they saw us as friends, someone to trust. Their antics sometimes caused a bit of a stare from Pokemon at other tables, but that didn't stop them from playfully tackling each other like that. "So Aqua, looking forward to your next step in medical?" Audino asked, Aqua immediately nodded.

"Yeah, I can't wait to know more about medical. I'm looking forward to it. It starts tomorrow, right?"

"Indeed it does. Not only will it be me helping you out, but Metagross here will be involved. He has some interesting thinks to talk about that may be useful for the upcoming medical test soon."

"Yes." Metagross cleared his throat. "I want to talk about not only medical items such as Potion, Ethers, and Revives, but also talk about the medicinal acts of berries; how to identify them, what they can be used for, how to increase the potency, how to store them efficiently without causing too much damage or know when one is expired or not."

"I have been talking about bottled medicinal items for quite some time, but I believe Metagross may help you on the berry subject a lot more than I can ever could."

"Sounds great! I would love to know more about berries. I think learning about them would greatly help me and Zack soon." Aqua said with a smile, almost letting it slip to them that we would soon be leaving this place. We wanted to tell them tomorrow after the celebration was over and done with. Nervous that one of them would ask 'what do you mean by 'soon'?' Audino and Metagross they just cast each other confused looks for a while before shrugging it off to talk about something else.

Aqua and I smiled at one another. "That'll be helpful for when we leave." I said to her, not worrying about the others next to us. The loud Pokemon in the room helped with that.

"I hope so. I'd hate to pick up a random berry in the wild to later discover it was a poisonous one. To be honest, I had never really considered about learning about berries, only Potions and other bottled items. It was a good thing it was brought up sooner rather than later."

"You think you can manage it?" I asked. "Learning medical, about the many berries and keeping up with your training?"

Aqua nodded her head. "I should be alright. After all, a class in medical only lasts about four hours a day, plus an extra hour of studying. I should have time to do both without pushing myself too hard."

Then suddenly a loud clanging could be heard in the middle of the room alerting everyone to the middle. "Ahem! May I have your attention everyone!" Purrloin said with a calm voice that quietened the room. "Yesterday, we believed over the coming weeks we would be low on rations; food, medical supplies were all at critically low levels that we would have to *shudder* share." The Pokemon in the room all groaned. "So I had a choice, to either accept this sharing thing I despise, or send my intel team on one last search for supplies we could take for us. No more sharing the bottle that rightfully belongs to you, no more sharing on food you bought, but I wanted to find some rations, large quantities for us to have so we do not need to share again. Until intel came back and granted us the news, a place, an abandoned building with all of the supplies we could want if not more. But the problem was we needed someone to go and get it." Purrloin stood up on the table and pointed at our table, and everyone looked at us. "Four brave Pokemon volunteered to leave the hideout and to collect the things we needed. But human soldiers were there. But they didn't escape so that the humans could take what was rightfully ours, but they stayed and took as much as possible back here so we could last another month." The entire room erupted in cheers and clapping, almost sounding out the music on the radio completely. Purrloin raised her glass and the applause settled down. "Thank you, you four. Tonight we celebrate your success on yesterdays supply run. In a month's time, we will need a team of Pokemon to go out and do the same thing to gather supplies once more. That is why I hereby declare; Zack, Aqua, Leafeon, and Noctowl as the permanent members of the supply run!"

"I thought she said that we would decide on that?" Leafeon asked amongst the continuous clapping of the Pokemon.

The clapping eventually died down as soon as the food were brought in by the Pokemon Purrloin had hired for tonight as the chefs to cook all of this food; hot bowls of soup, fresh bread, Poke blocks, cake, bowls of fruit for all tables. But for us, they set on the table bottles of soda, crackers, and some salad. Now it may not be the fanciest of meals, but it was nice that we received all of this. I looked over my shoulder to get a look at Purrloin, talking with the others she was with. In a week, me and Aqua would be leaving this place, so she would have to search for two other Pokemon for the supply run.

Me and Aqua tomorrow would definitely tell the others about leaving this place by the end of the week. Audino, Metagross, Leafeon, Jolty, Eevee, and Purrloin would be told about after they had some free time. But tomorrow we wouldn't find any smile or congratulations, not for the leaving part, but getting my memory back. We would only find sadness in their responses about us wanting to leave. It would be news that would change everything.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

If the original draft, Purrloin only set up the feast for herself, her bodyguards, and Zack, excluding Leafeon, Noctowl, and Aqua out of the feast.


	12. Chapter 12 Together

Chapter 12 – Together

* * *

****

**The Hideout - Medical Room – Aqua's POV**

Today me and Zack would talk to the others about us leaving this place so I could help him remember who he is by going to Nuvema Town, hoping we would find something there. Leafeon, Jolty, Eevee, Audino, Metagross, Noctowl, and Purrloin had to be told sooner rather than later. We had planned on talking to the others after I finished work, something along the lines of 'we have some good news to tell you; Zack has remembered something about his past. We believe in Nuvema Town we'll find the answers we are looking for. So we are leaving by the end of the week.' Or perhaps something with more thought put into it and not rushed. When I first arrived here I wanted to leave, take some time until Zack had recovered and leave without interacting with others much. But what I didn't account on was making a few friends here as the weeks passed. We might not see them again, but I was grateful on the things they taught me, how much they were friendly to me and Zack. With the caps we would have left over, I think we'll give it to them as well as the books and medical and food we don't need to take with us. It was our way on saying _"thank you for everything."_ I wish they could've come with us, and that's the moment when I was thinking, _"Why don't they come with us? Sure it'll require more time, but with all of us together we'll be safer and have fun while we travel. I'm sure Zack's trainer would like to meet the Pokemon who have been friendly to him while he recovered."_

In the final minute or two left of today's studying session with Metagross about berries; the effects some can grant, the healing capabilities, how much you should use before it can get poisonous or deadly, things like that. I had learnt so much in the span of four hours, but most of those hours I had spent on thinking about how to say what I had to tell them before we leave in a week to Audino and Metagross.

"Okay, class is over for today Aqua. So put the books away and help me cleanup this mess." Metagross sighed as he began to pick up the only paper ball left on the floor from a failed throw attempt he had made earlier… which was the only thing that needed to be cleaned up in the room, so I guess we were done here.

After sliding the book on berries back into the bookcase, I walked over to Metagross and Audino, unsure how to ask them what I wanted to say to them, the right thing. They noticed me standing there. "Uh, Metagross, Audino, I have something I want to say…" I could've said something else; I had the chance to do so still. I could've said 'thank you for today's lesson, see you tomorrow.' Or 'thank you for today's lesson, with this knowledge I hope I can put it to great use some day.' and left the room. Or maybe I could've asked them about how to mix berries up to make a stronger effect. I never did that, I wish I did though.

"_How should I say this?"_ I thought, quickly trying to plan out what I wanted to say. Their faces once calm now showed concern, it would only be a matter of second until they would ask me what was wrong. Guess there was no going back then. So I cleared my throat and began. "Recently, Zack remembered something we believe may help him recover his memories."

"Hey, that's great!" Audino cheered, clapping her hands together. "See Metagross, I told you he'd remember something soon."

"I never said he wouldn't. But congratulations to him then." Metagross groaned.

"But there is something I want to tell you two, it was something we wanted to tell the rest before the end of the week. At the end of the week, me and Zack would leave this place to go to this town he saw in his dream." I said, trying to say everything that I wanted. As I did, I noticed Audino and Metagross look at each other. Audino's paws covered her mouth as she gasped, but I continued. I had to get through this. "We trained to learn moves should we face any dangerous obstacle, earned enough caps to buy all of our stuff we would need; food, water, sleeping bags, just other things. I didn't know when we should tell you, but since we'd only have five days left before the week was done here I am telling you about us leaving soon. But I have to say to you both, I really did learn a lot from you, about medical. I couldn't have asked for better teachers than you. Thank you for everything. I'm going to miss you both."

"Oh… sweetie…" Audino said, looking at Metagros first, then at me. "D-didn't anyone tell you about the rules of this place?" I had heard about the rules most of my time at the hideout' don't steal, no fighting, no leaving the base at certain hours. I was just told about those three. I cocked my head, unsure what rule they were talking about. "About what happens when you become a member of Purrloin's gang?" i shook my head. Then my eyes widened in shock at what I had heard.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Dining Hall – Normal POV**

I think training went better than I had thought that day, I got the stances and techniques down using the moves a little bit faster than trying to use whatever move I could, only I needed for the moves I had needed to be stronger. The route towards Nuvema Town had been set, just a clear straight path from here to the town following the main path in two days and we'll be fine. Just had to keep training and organize the items we needed, and Aqua with her Medical and we should all be good to go.

I was walking around the hideout until I met Purrloin wandering around the base, seeing this as a good chance to talk to her about me and Aqua leaving at the end of the week and spoke to her about it. or better yet wait a while before Purrloin settled down after noticing me, dragging me into the dining hall and talked about the feast last night.

Purrloin was walking around the dining room as we talked to one another. I had wanted to start off with small talk before talking about the serious thing, to be telling her that me and Aqua after staying in this place a month or so to be leaving by the end of the week after the feast, the announcement of me and Aqua with Leafeon and Noctowl to be the permanent members of the supply run. I supposed she would be disappointed we would be leaving soon, maybe upset. She would most likely be upset another feast for us, a farewell feast for what she said on a few occasions losing two of her best supply runners. Maybe she would try to convince us to stay and help their gang out. But we couldn't stay. I needed to remember who I once was to find out why I ended up injured at the beach, if any of my friends or family if I had any where looking for me, I wanted to know.

"I believe the feast last night was a success. It certainly did help raise the morale of the Pokemon here." She said as we walked around the dining hall in a circle while the same music from the feast last night played. "Since the past few days since the failure of the last supply run, I feared some would protest, argue about the lack of supplies we had here. Trying to survive for a month on the little we had really did cause me to shake in fear most nights on what might happen. But with luck, we managed to find more than enough provisions to last us a month…" She sighed, stopping by the time we reached the radio and she turned it off. "Somewhere in another parallel dimension this radio wouldn't be turned on and have played music last night and everyone almost in the hideout wouldn't be happy as the supplies run low by the day."

"It was a good thing your intel team managed to find that building me, Aqua, Leafeon and Noctowl went into." I said as she began twirling into a little dance. "How come they didn't get a mention the other day?"

"My intel team consisted of two members, a brother and sister team. These two members are very private and don't want to be interacted with most days. Rarely ever leaving their rooms not wanting anyone else to see them, anxious about their cover being blown, after all they are undercover. I thanked them with a feast similar to this one and gave them rewards for their service." She sighed as she stopped twirling around and continued walking around the room with me. "But what I am disappointed in them for not mentioning the human soldier's in the building. I was amazed at how you and the rest managed to get inside and back out with everything we needed without so much as a scrape on you. My apologize Zack. If I had known there were humans inside the building I wouldn't have let either of you go. Everyone here is like a family to me. I couldn't bear to live with myself if anyone of you were hurt, kidnapped or killed, I couldn't."

"Well I'm glad we didn't though. It was intense, but somehow we managed."

"That's good." She said. "Sometimes supply runs can get that bad if we don't plan things out. Yesterdays run were kind of sloppy, especially with my intel team. I think I went too easy on them, almost lost yesterday." She smiled happily at me, coming to a stop at the large table she had sat at yesterday during the feast with her other bodyguards.

"Purrloin, there's something I have to tell you." I said to her, watching as she sat down on top of the table. It was time for her to find out what me and Aqua were about to do. By the end of the week we would be leaving this place to find this Nuvema Town and hopefully find the answers to who I was. Purrloin smiled as she listened, a light blush appeared on her cheek. "Yesterday I remember a location from my life before I ended up washed up on the beach. And I want to go there to find out about myself with Aqua," Purrloin's expression turned from a happy smile to a somewhat more of anger, scratching the table with her paw, chipping away at the loose wood. "I just wanted you to know that if it hadn't been for you to bring us in, if my injured hadn't been healed up by Audino, I would've died out there. So um, thank you."

Purrloin remained sitting there for a brief moment, but expression shifted to a relaxed one as she chuckled. "Oh silly Dewott. Didn't anyone tell you this already?" I shook my head, unsure what she meant by that. Then with a broad smile as she touched my paw with hers, she revealed. "No one can ever leave my gang."

"What do you mean? Why not?"

"Everyone who is taken in, who joins my gang either be it curiousness or in your case 'temporarily' must stay here forever." With her other paw grasping both of mine holding them down on the table, rubbing them as she explained. "I see this gang and see it as my true family. I look at them, I see brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunt's… I see myself as the mother of this growing family, refusing to let them go. Because if I do let them go, then one by one they will leave me… and I would be alone. And I don't want to be alone." She then leaned forward, her face mere inches apart from mine. "My family left me when I was young. They never loved me… They betrayed me; I thought they would be there for me when I needed them the most… Maybe I should've given them a slower death… traitors deserve much more than a quick death…" I backed up in seat at that, trying to break free from Purrloin's grip and towards the door, but her grip was stronger than mine. Her body on the table, she crawled closer and wrapped her arms around me, pulling her face close. "But you Zack, I see you as the father of this ever growing family. We could lead them together you and I, then perhaps soon we will have children of our own, and they shall do the same as what we did; start a gang, never let anyone leave. Because if you do try to leave this gang, that Oshawott will be the one to suffer. I will let Lucian unleash all of his anger onto her for as long as he wants." She moved her paw up to my cheek and caressed it. "And if she survives, she is tougher than she looks and will continue to live normally here. But if she dies like the weakling I know she is, well she'll be dead and both results will make others wanting to leave this place, it will make them stay here permanently."

"But I want to know who I am, why I ended up with all of those injuries and losing a left eye." I argued, lifting up my eye patch and showing her all of the injuries I had gotten. "There are answers in Nuvema Town, there must be if I want to know who I was. I could still have friends out there and family searching for me, not knowing that I was here. I need to leave this, I can't-"

"Oh but Zack, you will find out while you stay here." She interrupted, holding up her paw to my mouth. "It may not be important memories, but memories nonetheless. I have a feeling you had a trainer once who did this to you. Forcing you to battle nonstop, injuries appearing all over till you were left completely scared all over. Probably abandoned you because you were seen as useless to them. But I do not see you as useless Zack. Do you really want to remember memories like that? Do you want to remember your trainer's face, an uncaring face as you bled out? Because out there, you will only find a life you wished remained forgotten. Because in here, here you will be safe, you will have a happy life. Here with me."

"So Zack, are you planning on leaving this place? Or do I have to order Lucian to go after your friend? Do you want her to die?" She held up her other paw, ready to click it so that her bodyguards outside will enter, ready to await her order. I couldn't let Purrloin do that to Aqua, but I wanted to leave this place and find out who I was. We were being kept prisoners here, Leafeon, Jolty, Eevee, Audino, Pellet, Phoenix, Bulbasaur, all of them were. How come I didn't see it sooner?

"I won't leave," I lied. "I'll stay here at the hideout with Aqua if that'll make you happy." Purrloin smile grew and she nodded her head, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm glad you'll be here Zack." She whispered. "Soon, you'll start to see things my way. Soon, you and I shall become one." Me and Aqua weren't planning on staying there forever. We had to leave that place, and soon. We had all of the things we needed, a plan on how to get to Nuvema Town, supplies to last us a week if not longer. We had to escape that place without anyone knowing. It would be risky, but we had to do it.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Purrloins gang members didn't appear much in the first draft of this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13 Enough

Chapter 13 - Enough

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Our Room**

The start of a new day, it would've been the third day with four days left remaining in this place originally. But given the sudden news, a rule we had overlooked about this place; 'No one can leave the base once joined as a member of Purrloin's gang or suffer either torture and/or death.' Both of us thought that's what we could do, stay here for a while until I remembered something about myself, then we could leave soon after, but to find out after all of this time that we can't leave, no… we couldn't stay here, and I wanted to know who I was. I walked towards the bed and knelt down in front of Aqua sitting by the pillows. "Aqua, we can't stay here. My memory still hasn't come back to me. We have to go to Nuvema Town. I'm sure we'll find something there; friends, family, maybe my trainer, we have to leave this place."

"I know." She nodded her head. "But you know we can't leave. Not just because of that stupid rule everyone has to follow, but because of Purrloin's bodyguards everywhere; the hideout, most at the barricades outside the building, they would capture us. How far would we get if we tried to run away?" I held her paws with mine, looking her in her eyes.

"If we stay here, who knows how long it'll be before I remember everything. I don't know if I have anyone waiting for me out these walls and perhaps outside this city. I don't want to be a prisoner here, and I know you don't want to either. But I know it's risky, but we have to leave."

"Now? Or do should we leave by the end of the week?"

"The end of the week like we had planned. And besides, I still need to train some more and so do you. With the moves we already know, we could use some more training to get used to our new moves; they do feel a little sloppy. Plus, you want to learn as much as you can about medical, right?" She nodded her head and smiled.

"We'll have to say goodbye to our friends, but in a way that doesn't sound like we are leaving this place, if someone tells Purrloin about us leaving." She shook her head. "Although I really don't see them betraying us after everything. I'm going to miss them. They don't deserve to be locked up in here. No one does."

I should've noticed it sooner, the way everyone looked when they were in this building, Pokemon who have been here almost most of their lives. I mean why where they staying here? Couldn't they leave anytime they wanted? When Leafeon was attacked by Purrloin, I noticed the looks on everyone's faces present within the marketplace, most looked… it looked as though they just accepted it, that this was their fate, no escape, only endure it and nothing else.

"Zack, are you going to be training today in the training room?" She asked me. I nodded in response, watching as she got up and did a little stretch. "How about after I have finished up in medical today you help me with some training I have in mind? I feel as though I want to learn some combination moves."

"Combination moves? Hm, that would be something to see. You could come up with a lot of pretty neat combinations if you work on them. Mix things up from what appears to be an odd combination to create something really incredible. How'd you hear about that?"

"Audino mentioned it yesterday before I began class with Metagross." She said as she walked up to the door to open it up. "She told me about her time when she was younger how she and her friends in the Pokemon center she worked at was attacked by humans in costume wanting to steal the Pokemon. How she defended the building by combining certain attacks to create stronger ones, effective ones that helped defeat the enemy."

I walked up to her and helped her open the door and walked out with her. "When we train together, you gotta show me a thing or two about combining moves. Maybe one day we could even combine our moves together?"

Aqua chuckled. "Combining moves, huh? That'll be something to see. If we do manage to pull it off and make some cool move combinations, we'll be like the best combination duo ever!"

I chuckled at that as we walked together down the corridor. "Just gotta work on that though before we become the best." We went our separate ways that morning; me with spending my day at the training room to prepare for what was to come and Aqua to learn medical. These would be the things we would need for what would happen tonight and beyond for our survival.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Training Room**

So it was still official, we were still leaving this place by the end of the week. In order for myself to prepare I had to work twice as hard, especially if Purrloin would send her bodyguards after us once we have left the hideout, seen as a traitor by all. Before knowing about the 'you can't leave rule' I thought the only dangers me and Aqua would face would be wild Pokemon, a human trainer attempting to catch us, but not facing Purrloin's gang. Pellet, Phoenix and Bulbasaur escaped; did Purrloin ever find them in the end? Was the real reason I don't see much of Purrloin's bodyguards around is because they are hunting for them still? Was she really willing to go that far to hunt them down not stopping until she finds them? If so I had to prepare, work twice as hard and get better at using my moves so I am familiar with them, so they are stronger, able to stop foes in their tracks giving us time to flee or stop them or anyone from hunting us down.

The first move I had focused on that day was Scald, a move that at first scared me to use in battle fearing that I might fail at using the move and being the one scalded instead. At first I wasn't sure why I had bought this move, I only cared about buying two moves I was compatible with and learning them and that was that. When using it for the first time I did get burnt a little by it around my arms. So to fight this fear I used Scald multiple times to not only make it stronger, but not to be afraid of it, a power within me that I had to control. Somehow I had managed to get it down within the hour, to use the move by familiarizing myself with it by repeating it over and over again until I remember each step, how I should move my arms around, the angle and speed to use the move. Going too fast or too slow may result in the failure of using the move and I would just be standing there doing some kind of awkward wave at the opponent. I needed to be focused, relaxed in order to use the move as well with the others I had learnt and used. I thought today after learning and remembering how to use Scald I would knock the fear on using the move off, but I didn't. The fear on getting burnt by using that move still lingered, but I still used that move, refusing to let it defeat me. After that, I focused on Protect, a simple and easy to use move so not much to do with that except training to make it stronger. I would've had better training on it if I had another to spar with, to test the strength of my Protect, if what strength I was using was enough power to keep it up against strong attacks, but since no one was around I had to do all of it myself and to continue to train alone. And finally came the move Razor Shell. I activated it and held the scalchop in my paws and practiced the stances I could use, how to strike from the sides, above, below, jumping, rolling and then striking, many kinds of strikes and slashes I tried to learn, tried to make effective combination of moves both fast and slow, both ready for anything.

In ten minutes Aqua would be finished with her medical lessons, so I stopped training for now and climbed out of the ring to catch my breath sitting on a bench nearby. The training session was better than I originally thought it would. I thought I would only get all three moves remembered and use to them all by two or three sessions. But that day I had managed to get them all done._ "Now that is out of the way, I gotta get all three moves to become stronger before we leave."_ I thought to myself, looking back at all of the progress I had made, proud of myself for finishing up for the day, or at least for now until Aqua and I would do a little training before retiring for the night.

The training rooms double doors pushed open as Leafeon, Jolty and their son Eevee walked in. "Oh! There he is!" Leafeon said as the family walked up to me. Leafeon with the same usual bright smile like the other times, Jolty with a somewhat cautious stare, watching me closely when Leafeon sat down in front of me, and Eevee hopped up on the bench with a wide toothy grin, showing off a golden star sticker on his chest. An award he received yesterday by his mother in the painting class that morning for 'Over fifty paintings a week award' and telling him that he would earn a better prize if he managed to paint as little as ten, trying to reduce the paper and paint they go through per class. "We've been looking all over the hideout for you, Zack. After what Audino told us yesterday, about you remembering something about your past, wanting to leave this place with Aqua but told about the rule how once you join as a member in the gang you cannot leave, is this true?"

"It is the truth. Not too long before Aqua talked to Audino and Metagross, and I with Purrloin, I had a dream about this town I think I know before I came here." I was careful on not saying the name of the town. Not that I didn't trust them, but it was because ever since I told Purrloin about wanting to leave the place, she seemed… kind've off in some way. Then not too long after I had left Purrloin yesterday to meet up with Aqua and tell her about this rule, I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. So it was better to stay silent about our plans.

"I thought we told them this earlier?" She turned to Jolty, looking at him with a questioning look. Jolty shrugged and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Zack, we thought you already knew about that rule. I-is that why you and Aqua were buying that sleeping bag and travel gear in the marketplace a few days ago?"

"It was. Only needed some more food and medical supplies before we were set and ready to go." I wasn't sure whether or not I should tell them that we were still planning on leaving this place soon. If anyone was listening in on what we were saying, maybe I could try in some way to tell them this. But I lied to them, I had to. "Well I suppose me and Aqua could use these sleeping bags should we decide on sleeping in separate beds, and use the travel equipment we bought to help during our supply runs."

"Oh? So you and Aqua are actually going to become members of the supply run?" Jolty asked, tilting his head to the side. "I figured since you and Aqua had a close call last time you all had would stay away from anymore jobs like that." Jolty then said, but looking at Leafeon, as if asking her that instead of me.

Leafeon sighed. "Jolty, everything went well for all of us in the end, even if we all had a few close calls. I'll be perfectly fine next time I go. You don't have to worry about me. The others and me, we all worked together to accomplish that last supply run. One abandoned the other or threatened anyone; towards, during and after scavenging the items in that building. All of us had a good conversation that day, we had fun if you don't look at the close call we had." Jolty grunted and sat beside Leafeon while making sure Eevee doesn't fall off the bench and hurt himself.

Sitting there, I thought about the rule about how no one can leave the gang. I then asked why. Purrloin had said it had something to do with her parents leaving her when she was younger. She said she felt betrayed. Everyone in her gang was like a family member to her, and if they would leave she would feel betrayed, go after them and hunt them down. "Do you think Purrloin can be reasoned with?" I asked, wanting to know if I could find a way to leave this place through bargaining or promise saying that I would return… maybe. "I want to remember who I was, if I have any family or friends out there and if they are looking for me. Is it possible that Purrloin would let us leave if not for only a short amount of time? That we leave the hideout for a few days so I can find out whether or not this town has anyone that knows me, that if maybe my memory will come back to me?"

Leafeon looked at Jolty, and he looked back at her, they shook their heads. "Someone, a long time, long before you and Aqua showed up asked the same thing to Purrloin, asked her if they could leave the hideout for a day or a few hours so they could talk to their friends and family outside of the city. They said they promised to come back. Purrloin believed them, then more Pokemon asked the same, all promising to return before the end of the day to talk to their family and friends, to get out of the city and walk around the forests to get some fresh air. But then Purrloin standing at the gate, a happy expression on seeing her gang members return fell to an expressionless one at first, then irritated, then angered at how they 'broke curfew' it was only until the next day after searching the city that all Pokemon that had left the hideout to visit their family, friends, to catch some fresh air had escaped the city. And so she forbid anyone who joined up with the gang to never leave the hideout, or else he or she be tortured or killed, all depending on how nice they were to her before the betrayal. So if anyone does leave the hideout, no matter the reason, if it be a second or a minute, Purrloin will see it as an act of betrayal, and she'll punish you severally for it."

"Like the time I left the hideout mommy?" Eevee cocked his head up at Leafeon after jumping down from the bench and into the arms of his father.

Leafeon smiled softly at him and bent down to nuzzle him. But when she did, I thought I caught something I hadn't seen before when she brushed Eevee's fur with her paw, just underneath it. Then underneath her left paw were multiple scars, claw marks from the looks of it. _"H-how did she get them? How come I didn't notice them sooner?"_ I thought, shyly but curiously wanting to ask, but I was silent, but my expression of confusion said it all, and so it was Jolty who said it.

"One time our son, Eevee here once went outside of the hideout during a game of hide and go seek. He stayed outside for three hours before returning to find almost everyone searching for him, Purrloin's bodyguards and all." Jolty said as he looked down at his down standing beside him, smiling cutely at his father. Jolty used his paw and ruffled the tuft of fur sticking up on his head. "But Purrloin found him and asked where he had been… then she turned to us, a look as though she were saying 'so you planned on leaving the family, huh?'"

"She brought me and Leafeon into the torture room. Her bodyguards holding us both against the opposite sides of the room. With a knife, Purrloin pointed it at me and asked; 'which one of you should be punished? Should Leafeon be punished, or should it be you?'… I-I tried to fight, to get them off of me so I could help Leafeon, but they were too strong. So Purrloin asked me again which one of us should be punished. Then she walked over to Leafeon, pointing the knife at her eye… then I said to punish me…" Jolty trembled as she sobbed, looking away from Leafeon. Leafeon pressed her face against the back of his head to comfort him.

"Purrloin hurt me…" Leafeon said, lifting up her right paw to reveal a scar across her paw. "She said who should be punished. If Jolty said I should be punished, then Purrloin would hurt him while forcing me to watch her hurt the one we loved. But Jolty said to punish him, thinking she would hurt him… in a way it did, not physically but mentally." She lowered her paw and hugged Jolty with her other paw. Jolty looked back at her, almost turned away. "I don't hate you for what she did, Jolty. How many times do I have to say that?"

Jolty looked at Leafeon, shaking his head a little. "I just… ever since we got here, it's always been you who were hurt by Purrloin or someone else working with her. All I have to do is watch and… endure it all. I don't want to be weak, I wanted to put a stop to it and protect you… but I can't do that." Leafeon pulled him in to hug him.

"You have protected us, Jolty. You have always protected us." The family hugged each other, cried even. But it was mostly Leafeon who cried the most if not more than her son and Jolty combined. Life in the hideout was a cruel one, an almost hopeless one of ever seeing beyond the city a free Pokemon knowing the gang will never come looking for you if you were ever apart of the gang, but we were. It was a good thing that day I had learnt those moves as fast as I could. Not yet mastered, but effective enough to do some damage, to push the enemy back. I had hoped it would be enough for what was to come by the end of the week… or so I thought.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Dining Room**

Waiting in the training room wasn't going to cut it for me, four hours almost in that room would do that to some, especially when the room became swarmed with some of Purrloin's bodyguards ten minutes after Leafeon, Jolty and Eevee walked in and talked to me. Her bodyguards were in a way nicer to me, Leafeon, Noctowl and Aqua, showing us respect for getting the supplies we needed to last us a month, but it didn't show respect to Leafeon's family, especially calling Jolty 'weak' multiple times, trying to urge a reaction from him. almost going as far by provoking him by intimidating Jolty by jokingly approaching Eevee in a threatening manner by using their moves to 'miss' his tail, wanting to cut if off and then saying 'we just wanted a new scarf.'. But despite what Leafeon had done for them, they whistled and called for her to return to the training room to help them train, but she ignored. Not even I was ignored by either one of them; saying that I was Purrloin's newest 'pet' with them betting how long she'll have me for, whatever that meant.

I got out of there earlier than I had planned. All of us going our separate ways, I walked to medical to meet Aqua after work and get ourselves some food at the cafeteria. That was when I heard it, the commotion right inside the cafeteria; Purrloin shouting at someone who I recognized through the crowd surrounding the area mostly around the entrance.

"Ya think she's going to crush her head with that mallet?" asked one of the Pokemon in the crowd.

"With a temper like that? Most likely we'll see some blood at least." Replied another with excitement in his voice. The rowdy crowd cheered, most chanting for Purrloin to finish her off, some Pokemon among the crowd pleaded for Purrloin to let her go.

"Please, I-I didn't mean it!" I couldn't see anything at the back of the crowd, but hearing that voice I knew who it was immediately, no mistaking it. I jumped up to see what was going on inside the cafeteria. It took me a few jumps to see Aqua in the corner of the cafeteria cowering from Purrloin who was standing right over her with a wooden mallet in her paw, looking as though she was about to strike her with it. I pushed passed the first layer of Pokemon at the back of the cafeteria finally making my way past the doorway, despite some angry remarks from the Pokemon I had pushed passed I heard Purrloin as she shouted angrily at Aqua.

"You little bitch! What the heck is wrong with you? Are you blind? You knocked me over when you turned that corner when you weren't looking!" She spat, slamming the mallet against the wall slightly above her. Aqua flinched, looking at the crowd momentarily before returning them back at her attacker.

"P-please, h-help me… I didn't mean to hurt you!" She sobbed. Purrloin and most of the crowd; her bodyguards laughed along, again irking Purrloin to 'smash her head in'. Purrloin glanced over her shoulder and smirked before returning her gaze back down on Aqua, tutting as she shook her head.

"No one is going to save you, you little bitch." She said calmly, a twisted grin formed, the mallet just above Aqua's head, slowly raising and lowering it but not touching her. "No one is going to stab me in the heart to save the likes you. No one cares for Pokemon like you; weak and useless is all you are. As if you ever had a place here. As if you ever mattered in this world. Well you did have one good role I am proud of, it was by keeping my new mate company until he heals up, which was an excellent job." Purrloin raised the mallet up above her head. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this! Say goodbye, 'You'!" Then I pushed with all of my might passed the crowd of Pokemon, pushing them aside, climbing over them, kicking them, anything I had to do to reach Aqua in time while ignoring the angry crowd behind me, trying to grab me for stepping on their tails. I don't know how I managed to get from the middle of the crowd and then in front of it in a matter of seconds, but I didn't stop running towards them, not knowing or even thinking how I would stop Purrloin from striking Aqua, perhaps a strike that would kill her.

With all of the training I did today, I felt the fatigue suddenly and quickly creep up on me stumbling as I ran with everything I had left. With my paw reached out, I wanted to protect her. The move Protect could've prevented anyone of us from being hurt, but only one of us did get hurt.

Purrloin struck down as hard and fast as she could, but thankfully I made it just in time before Purrloin could get to Aqua. Instead, Purrloin struck me. A loud 'Whack' echoed the cafeteria just as soon as the crowd quietened down just before Purrloin attacked. I made it just in time, but everything all so fast that I couldn't decide what move to use to stop the attack, so instead I was hit at the back of my right shoulder with Purrloin's mallet. A seemingly numbing feeling at first not noticing any pain to follow. But when I had moved a muscle in my right arm, only then did I feel intense pain which felt like a million knives all stabbing me in the shoulder, a burning pain like hot knives.

The room fell silent, and then I heard the mallet drop behind me. With my eye closed and kneeling down in front of Aqua, opened my eye again just as Aqua touched my chest with her paws. "Zack… y-you…"

I smiled down at her, trying to ignore the pain I was feeling, happy she was alright, that i got there in time before the blow struck her. So I got up and held Aqua's paw with my left and walked together out of the room as the crowd made way for us to leave.

"Z-Zack!" I heard behind us, Purrloin sobbing as she slowly stumbled towards us, not completely. "I-I just… t-this isn't what it- s-she was, she trying to get in our way… I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, I only wanted to hit her and then kill her." She sobbed. But the only two things I did was one; walk away from the cafeteria with Aqua.

And two; looking over my shoulder, making sure she would hear what I had to say "You are a messed up bitch, Purrloin. Come after Aqua or me again and I'll end you!" The crowd gasped, quietly speaking amongst themselves as they watched us leave. Purrloin watched as we left the cafeteria, her mouth agape. It was the saddest she had ever felt. Then like a volcano, she felt her anger within her slowly rise and rise. It was an anger all Pokemon including her bodyguards within the hideout feared at seeing from Purrloin, not knowing what she would do.

I wasn't sure to be exact which was the catalyst for Purrloin to become so enraged; me protecting Aqua when no one else would have, or me calling her bitch and threatening to kill her if she came after us. But now our time at the hideout was finished, and we knew it. Purrloin would see to it that something would be done about us; punishment, torture, or death. We couldn't stay at this hideout tomorrow or up till the end of the week, we had to leave now while we still had a chance.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Zack originally had his left arm broken after Purrloin struck him with the mallet forcing him and Aqua to stay inside the hideout longer.


	14. Chapter 14 The Escape Part 01

Chapter 14 - The Escape Part 01

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Our Room**

The walk back lasted longer than it should've, or maybe it just felt like that after what had happened in the cafeteria, either that or the pain I was still feeling growing worse with every step I had taken from the mallet Purrloin used striking me at the back of my right shoulder. But we were finally were we wanted to be, in our room. Aqua was the one first inside the room lighting three candles, one beside the bed, another beside our bag with our items next to it, and another near the door before helping me walk to the bed to sit down on, it wasn't really necessary.

The words that escaped from my mouth to Purrloin; 'You are a messed up bitch, Purrloin. Come after Aqua or me again and I'll end you!' after saving Aqua from her attack, an attack I had blocked. If I hadn't, a blow like that might've killed her, or knocked her out only to be defenseless against blow after blow of Purrloin's attack, but thankfully I made it in time to defend her with my sore shoulder. _"Hope I didn't break any bones."_ I thought to myself, almost laughing at the thought. _"All of that training would be a waste of time if that happened. Using one arm to use moves? I would only use Razor Shell with left arm, and I'm pretty lousy at left handed stances…"_

"Zack!" Aqua said as she ran up in front of me beside the bed. "H-here lie down. Let me take a look at your shoulder."

"Aqua… I-I'm alright. R-really I- Ack! A-am okay…" But that lie was easily seen by Aqua as she noticed my wincing whenever I tried to move my right arm. She wasn't buying it, and crossed her arms frowning at me.

"Zack, I want to help. Please lie down for me." I nodded my head and lied down on my stomach with my face resting against the pillow. Aqua examined the injury on shoulder before running to fetch the medicine from the stock. It was a nasty medium sized slit across my right shoulder with a bruise surrounding it. I felt Aqua open a bottle before pouring something on my wound, a cold sensation at first, but soothed almost immediately. I felt her paws gently touch my wound; it didn't hurt too badly, only stung a little. "This gel should help you heal up." She said, still rubbing the medicine onto my wound. "It'll slowly heal the wound, but it'll take some time, j-just try not to… just try not to touch it too much..." Aqua stopped, and then I heard her sobbing.

"Aqua?" I asked, turning my head to the side to see at the side of me wiping away at her tears. "Aqua, are you alright? Why are you crying?"

"You got hurt… Z-Zack, I'm sorry." She sniffed before wiping another stray tear off her cheek.

I sat up from the bed, trying to ignore the pain as best as I could to sit beside her. "It's not your fault, Aqua. I'm just glad you are alright." Aqua nodded and finished up cleaning the left over medical supplies and putting the empty bottles in the trash box over the by the corner of the room.

After some time had passed, Aqua had calmed down. The injury was slightly better than before healing up really nicely. I wish I could say that the aching muscles just underneath the wound though. "Hey Aqua, tell me what happened between you and Purrloin. Why did she go after you like that?"

"I was walking to the training room to meet you for our training session. Then not long after I left medical walking down the corridor, just as soon as I turned the corridor that would lead me towards the cafeteria and the training further up, then I accidentally bumped into Purrloin as she came running down the corridor and we both fell." She sighed, stroking the back of her head. "I stood up as fast as I could to help Purrloin up, asking her if she was alright, but then she got all mad, screaming at me, saying I was stupid for not looking where I was going. Then she grabbed a mallet from one of the storage rooms nearby and tried to hit me with it… and you know the rest."

"Something's definitely wrong with her." I shook my head, almost made me sick at the sight of Purrloin attacking Aqua like that, the laughter, the wicked smile she made as she attacked swinging that mallet around smashing against the walls, wanting to kill her, and for what; accidentally bumping into each other and knocking the other down?

"Are you alright, Aqua?" I asked, checking to see if she was hurt by Purrloin before I got there, but there none I could see.

"I'm fine. I'm also kind of surprised that I managed to move that fast when she attacked me. Or I guess I was just lucky on evading all of her attacks." She lightly chuckled, a long sigh of relief. "You know, now realizing it I don't even know why I didn't defend myself by using my moves. I did learn three of them during my time here; Razor Shell could've helped block her attacks, Double Team to help evade her or tire her out, maybe I could've frozen her with Ice Beam. But no, I just stood there in the corner and evading each blow like I was out of energy and needed a ether or two."

"I must've needed some ethers too because at how long I was at the training room for and using up most of my energy." I said before applying myself a ether to restore some of my energy needed to use my moves "Could've used Protect to stop the blow. I guess using my body to prevent Purrloin from attacking you was the worst I could've thought of in that moment, and thus ended up with cut and bruise on my shoulder."

The both of us got up from the bed at the sudden sound of rapid knocking at the door. Aqua prepared her stance for her to use Ice Beam, and I using my left paw grabbed my scalchop ready to use Razor Shell. I don't know what we expected once that door would open, perhaps some of Purrloin's bodyguards would've had something to say to us or threaten us to keep in line, it wasn't the first time it had happened, but this time I would've been ready. No one dared stand up to Purrloin in the gang or else they would receive punishment. Going in and saving Aqua without using my moves like that and using my body to protect her was reckless, I could've been killed, and who knows what would've happened to Aqua if that happened. Opening the door cautiously with my right paw and my left ready to use Razor Shell, I saw who it was when I did open the door.

"Oh my! They're here Metagross!" Audino said waving over to Metagross about to walk away down the corridor to search for us elsewhere. "We have been looking for you since the incident in the cafeteria, all of us have been talking about. May we come in? I believe it would be better if…" She looked up and down the corridor if anyone was there. "…if we come in and talk."

Aqua walked up to the door and nodded, opening it a little wider for them to enter, and so they did, quickly shutting the door behind them. "You two are in seriously trouble. I have never seen Purrloin that furious before in my entire life." Audino said, nervously glancing back at the door when we heard someone walk past. "Purrloin has gathered everyone to the dining hall; from the looks of it she has gathered them all ready to do something terrible. Last time something like this happened, Purrloin had gathered everyone together, her bodyguards and all to hunt the one who had upset her and… kill them." She said, shaking her head.

"They're going to try and kill you." Metagross said to us, holding Audino. "B-but…" He asked her, and she looked at him before looking back at us. "We came here for two reasons; to tell you this, and to offer you assistance on escaping this place."

"What?" Me and Aqua said in unison. "But what about the rule?"

"Listen; they're going to try and kill you." Audino said, taking a step forward towards closing the small gap between us. "We have seen it happened to so many other Pokemon before in the past, and we aren't going to let it happen to you two. After all, I can't let anything happen to my number one student." Audino said, stroking Aqua's head as she smiled back at her.

"So we suggest you pack up everything you want to take with you so we can get you both out of here before Purrloin begins the game she calls 'Hunt for the traitors' a rather nasty game, a vile game she forces almost everyone here to participate in." Metagross said, shaking his head. "Only take what you need, cause once the hunt begins, once they realize you both have escaped, they spread throughout the city like gasoline lit on fire."

Quickly, I grabbed our bag and stuffed it full of all of our things we wanted to take with us; sleeping bags, the map book, a few bottles of potions, ethers, antidotes and a revive, food and water to last us about two days if we're lucky. Would've bought more items at the end of the week to last longer, but obviously we can't do that, not with Purrloin and her gang planning to hunt us down. What was left inside this room now was old trash in one corner, unused matched and candles in another corner inside a box, and our bed opposite it. Everything was all set, and it was time for us to go.

The strap of the bag I was carrying dug into the back of my right shoulder a little while we walked, the material rubbed into it, making it a little rough at times to carry. I know I could've just carried the bag, resting the strap on my left shoulder instead of my right, I wasn't thinking properly. I was anxious on leaving this place knowing Purrloin was going to hunt us down soon. How far would we get from this place if we ran? If we did travel to Nuvema Town, we would have to make sure we were not followed by them, straying off the path and through the trees, always looking over our shoulders everyday and keeping an eye open at night. I wondered if they would still try and attack us if I did remember everything, even if my friends were with me. I wondered how much and how far they would go to kill us.

"How will we get out of here?" I asked as all of us began walking fast at first then almost jogging while turning the corridor just past the medical.

"There a loose fence in the courtyard." Audino whispered as we hurried through the corridors, cautious at each corner we stopped at and passed hoping we didn't encounter any of Purrloin's bodyguards. "It is a well kept hidden secret me, Metagross and a very select few know about. We use it in secret if we ever want to get out of the city, or flee. So you two will use it while me and Metagross will try and do all we can to slow them down."

"Why don't you come with us?" Aqua asked by the time Metagross stopped us at another corner, waiting as two of Purrloin's guards were slowly walking down it to somewhere.

Audino quickly turned to Aqua and knelt down to her level, placing a paw on her shoulder. "We'd slow you down. And besides, you two are young, me and Metagross are old. And we don't have any supplies with us. We'll do much more here than out there. In here we can slow them down from finding you, out there, like I said we'll only slow you down and they will be likely to catch us all."

"The coast is clear, we need to go now!" Metagross whispered, moving first across the corridor until he opened the courtyard door slowly and quietly as he could, before walking through it. Audino gestured for us to follow her down the corridor, stopping just outside the door.

She stood beside and listened. Outside, me and Aqua could hear a things being hit, slammed against walls and the fence. "Who's there?" ordered one of the guards outside, quickly followed by a loud thump, then another, and another soon after until silence. Audino said. "Okay, let's go." Opening the door wider, and we followed her to the courtyard.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – The Courtyard**

The courtyard was a minute ago occupied by three guards patrolling the area, now none were occupying it, well not conscious guards that is. Three guards lying on the dirt with a Metagross standing in the middle looking exhausted. Taking three guards out without making much noise and with that speed must've taken a lot out of him for how fast he was breathing.

Audino ran to him, and asked. "Are you alright Metagross?"

"Sure… just had the wind knocked outta me. It had been a while since I had done something like that." He chuckled, gesturing with his foreleg at Audino to show that he was fine and focus on getting us out of here. She nodded and walked up to the fence and counted each section she passed 'one to eight' as fast as she could until eventually she stopped at the ninth. She knelt down and pulled at the bottom of the wooden fence, lifting it up with ease revealing a small opening big enough for us to fit through leading us out into the back alley.

"Just crawl through here and you'll be in the alley. Take a right as soon as you get out of this little tunnel and it'll lead you to the main street." she instructed us, looking back at the guards still cautious that one or two of them might regain consciousness at any moment. Thankfully Metagross was there to watch them if they do. "We don't know how long until Purrloin and her gang will wait until they search for you, but once they find out you are no longer in the building anymore, they will search all over the city within minutes. So get as far as you can away from this city."

"What about you?" Aqua asked. "Why can't you and Metagross come with us?"

Audino with her other paw brushed against Aqua's cheek and smiled. "I wish we could, but you two will have a better chance at getting away from here if we all go together. Don't worry about us. Take care of each other."

Aqua leaned in and wrapped her little arms around Audino, hugging her back with her only free paw. "I'll continue to get better at medical. I'll practice every day, I promise. I'll miss you both!"

"I'll miss you too, sweetie. Now go." Aqua nodded, before she crawled inside the tunnel, but stopped to wave back at Metagross.

"Bye Metagross, we'll miss you!" She said in a quiet voice over towards Metagross. He waved back and smiled.

"I hear ya youngins. Just go on and get goin' I don't want you both to end up worse than these goons behind me." He chuckled. But after Aqua had crawled through the tunnel, he called over to me, stopping before I could follow Aqua. "Hey Zack; you look after her for us, she's a special one. Ya hear?"

I nodded my head before crawling through. "I will. And thank you, both of you." I opened my bag and handed a tinned box full of all of the remaining caps Aqua and I had left to Audino no longer having any need for them. Audino took the box without uttering a single word, reading the word 'caps stash' on the lid for a while, shaking it hearing the many caps rattle around inside the box before looking back up at me, unsure how to respond.

"We won't need them anyone. There is more than three weeks worth." It was all I said, or could say at that time when back then I wanted to say more. To thank them more for all they did, offering them a gift; caps, a form of currency used in the hideout. Could we have done more for them? Was there an option? Maybe after I remembered who I was, maybe I thought could return to this place and… I don't know, maybe help them? Help put a stop to what Purrloin was doing.

Out of the courtyard now, Aqua and I were finally out of the hideout. But we weren't out of the woods yet. Soon the streets, the alleys of this city would be packed with Purrloin's gang searching for us. Our plan was to originally head towards the eastern gate to escape the city and head to Nuvema Town, a two day journey from here to the city for the shortcuts we'd be taking. But that eastern gate we thought we could go through today or by the end of the week would be inaccessible for one reason we would find out soon, another foe searching for us.

* * *

****

**The Hideout – Dining Hall**

Inside the dining hall stood almost everyone of Purrloin's gang members standing and waiting for Purrloin to announce the start of what she calls 'The Hunt' a game she plays with all members she can possibly get to join in to hunt down a gang member(s) that had either betrayed or upset Purrloin, a game which would start immediately with all Pokemon who joined team up with another and search the hideout or if they managed to escape, the city. And if they find the traitor it would only result in the following punishments depending on how Purrloin felt; torture, or death, sometimes both, or just the one.

The crowd spoke to one another about the game; who the 'prey' was and what they had done. Many with mixed thoughts on the whole thing and some disagreeing on what certain decisions on what we did and what Purrloin was doing. After the supply run, me and Aqua were looked up upon by a good majority of the gang here as well as Leafeon and Noctowl.

"I can't believe we're going after Zack and Aqua for the hunting game." Muttered one of the Pokemon to their friends amongst the crowd with a quiet voice so Purrloin or one of her bodyguards couldn't pick up amongst the loud crowd talking about recent events. "You know, after everything they did for us. saving us from starvation and lack of medical… I didn't say it enough, but they were cool. I wish I got to know them better."

"Yeah, it pains me to hear that they're the ones we gotta hunt down. Or do you reckon this is some kind of test? Or maybe this 'game' is actually a search for Zack and Aqua after they went missing not too long ago?"

"Nope." Said another Pokemon joining in on the conversation. "Saw it with my own eyes an hour ago; Purrloin you see was just about to hit Aqua over the head with a mallet for knocking each other down when turning a corner. Angered her so much she was swinging that thing like a baseball bat trying to kill her. But after cornering her in the cafeteria about to strike down at Aqua, Zack moved in and took the blow for her, saving her life. And the two walked out of there before Zack called her a bitch saying that Purrloin was messed up."

"Yikes! Well he isn't wrong on that, but yikes." One of the Pokemon chuckled. "Saying things like that will definitely put you on her list of Pokemon to kill."

The crowd immediately fell silent as Purrloin climbed up on a table, looking down at her gang members and bodyguards at the side as she raised her paw up. "Zack has been taken from us by that petty shiny Oshawott. She has corrupted his mind, controlling him into saying those awful things to me, using his body as a shield and taking him away from me!" She pace up and down the table with her arms behind her back, all Pokemon within the room watched her and listened in silence. "To make matters worse, she has taken him away from the hideout. Broken a rule all of us were given the time you all joined the gang. Punishment by torture or death, perhaps both will be granted to those whoever shall break this rule, she has."

"I want her found, I want Zack found, both of them brought back here so me and Zack can be together while I make that vile Oshawott wish she had never been born." She stopped in the center of the table and smiled at all of her gang. "Whoever wishes to help on finding the Oshawott with Zack, you must do so by travelling with one of my bodyguards. You must bring them both back alive. Whoever brings me them back alive, I will award them five thousands caps, and five hundred caps to those who join in on the search for this bitch and my Zack." Most of the crowd gasped, looking at the other beside them, a smile on some of their faces, excited, surprised, disgusted on a small few. But it was enough to win them over to join in on the hunt.

For those that did join in on the hunt, two by two they ran together out of the main gate and into the city in search for us, including Purrloin and her bodyguard Lucian, and a team of three; a mother, a father, and their son.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

The escape was originally a three part story, this was cut for time.


	15. Chapter 15 The Escape Part 02

Chapter 15 - The Escape Part 02

* * *

**Castelia City – Main Street – South Section**

As instructed, Aqua and I ran as fast as we could through the alley, wanting to put as much distance away from the hideout as we could within a matter of minutes if not less before Purrloin realizes we are not inside the building anymore and then she would send her gang out into the city to search for us.

The alley was slightly dark, lit up dimly by one overhead streetlight flickering on and off. Overturned trash, old mattresses piled up against buildings, yet the path forward towards the main street remained clear for a straight shot out of the alley, and then after heading right, it would be a straight shot once again towards the eastern gate we would be out of the city, and we would be free.

But before we had reached the exit of the alley, Aqua pulled me back stopping me and dragged me behind a nearby trashcan. Before I could protest, she whispered. "Quiet. Look… I think…" I waited, not knowing the reason Aqua had stopped me and hiding behind a trashcan, but then we saw it; a dark figure walking past the entrance of the alley with another. It was human, but not just any human; these two were the same armed soldier's as the ones from the Savior's building two days ago. Leaning over the trash to get a better look out into the main street, I noticed that it wasn't just the two armed soldiers; it was over twenty of them.

"Another vision?" I whispered, hiding back behind the trashcan.

"I got it when I was daydreaming in medical this morning. If we did run out there…" she gulped. "They wouldn't capture us. They would only kill us by shooting us."

"So what do we do?" I asked her, hoping another vision would pop up and help us get through this. But she shook her head. With the soldiers out there, back then I thought they were searching the city for me, Aqua, Leafeon, and Noctowl after what we did by taking all of those supplies in the Savior's building, revenge probably. So they would kill us if we were seen by them. No other option but to sneak our way through the city to escape. It would be tricky and it would take a lot of time we would need to get as far as we could away from the city. Looking to where the soldiers had walked off to, I noticed there were a few trash cans almost near the wall of the building to the left. A closer, but cautious look around the corner next to the trash cans I could see a line of cars leading right down the street. Looking back down the alley where the hideout was, I didn't want to chance going back down there, not wanting to see Purrloin's gang there, or her bodyguards. So going through the main street was our only option, hiding amongst the shadows staying as low as possible to try and get ourselves to the east gate.

"Aqua, we must go through the main street, we can't go back. We just have to keep moving forward." I whispered. Aqua shook her head.

"No, we'll be killed. My vision showed me this morning that those humans will kill us if they see us. Look how many there are out there." She pointed with her paw. "I don't know when the vision happens. All I know that it does happen in a place like this one, or similar. The visions I see can be changed, we can go back and try another alley, but going out there and my vision will become a reality."

"Purrloin's gang is back there. And who knows where that alley will take us, it may lead us to a dead end, and we'll be back here." I whispered back. I didn't want Purrloin's gang to get a hold of Aqua or let Purrloin hurt her like she was going to do earlier with a mallet. We had to get out of this city and fast, I didn't like it either, wanting to find an alternative way through this, but we had no choice. I turned to face her, "Aqua, it's either this or… trying our luck with heading back down the alley, past that hideout to check whether or not the alley would lead us to a better and out of sight path towards or out of the city instead of a dead. By the time we return, the courtyard would probably be live with Purrloin's guards. And let's not forget; we do know some moves that may help get us through this, to defend ourselves against the human soldiers. I know you don't want to, and I certainly don't want to either but we have no other option if we want to escape this city. I'm sorry."

Aqua slowly turned her head towards the exit of the alley and out towards the main street, a look of uncertainty on her face mixed with fear. It took her a moment before she turned back to me and nodded her head. "Okay, Zack…" Quickly, she walked up to me and held my left before we began with this. Taking one last look back at the alley now, perhaps our last moment together, our last moment alive and temporarily safe, we left the alley together.

Leaving the alley and into the unusual dark street illuminated by only two streetlights at one end of the street; one next to the east gate, and the other a little bit to the left near the center. Twenty guards I could count, seven patrolling near the center, six walking in pairs of two a few meters distance apart patrolling the street, their flashlights searching shop windows, inside car windows they passed but never straying from the path or walking down an alley they passed, and finally seven standing right in front of the east gate with a van parked beside it.

With her paw in mine, we crouched down low after leaving the alley and crawled to the trashcans on the left providing us with good cover from the soldiers. After peeking my head out to look at the east gate, from how many there were and how close they were to the gate. We couldn't go through there, especially not with this many soldiers patrolling the area. "There are guards standing outside the gate." I pointed, but Aqua didn't look, too anxious of being caught by the soldiers. "That was the only route out of the city we wanted to go and it's blocked… I guess our only other option is to head up north from here." Aqua stayed silent but nodded her head, clutching my paw a little bit tighter, refusing to let go. I kept her close while we crawled to the cars staying close to them so the guards patrolling the street while they passed wouldn't notice us on the other side. We only stopped a few times when they shined their flashlights on the cars we were hiding behind, then they would move on to the next one, and then the next one repeating every circular loop they made up and down the street.

Aqua and I came to a stop after we reached the final car parked outside a closed down restaurant of some kind near a street which if followed would get us to the north gate, but that would be a problem with how many guards were patrolling that street, a sight which made mine and Aqua's eyes widen in shock at the amount of soldiers patrolling the street. There were so many of them, maybe more than fifty of them patrolling the street, opening the doors of the stores they approached, searching for something, issuing commands to certain teams of soldiers to search the store across the street, the business two buildings down, to check out one of the parked trucks in the middle of the street. Yeah, that street was a one hundred percent no on going through there, so we had to come up with something else to escape this city. Being seen would only cause trouble, and that was something we didn't want, so we had to be smart about this and think of something else, to search for an alternative route. A slower route perhaps, but a route that doesn't have this many soldiers.

Carefully peeking around the boot of the car, the last two guards out on patrol was already passing us ready to circle back around. And then I saw it, just across the street on the right of behind a building at the corner was another alley. "Aqua, look!" I pointed out the alley to her. "If we take that alley, we can get out of the city that way, I think."

Aqua looked where I was pointing, then immediately moved back behind the car completely. "But we'll have to get to the other side; with all of the guards patrolling the area… how will we even do that? They'll see us if we try to run across." She was right, they would see us if we tried, even if we tried to hide in the darkness they would definitely see us before we could make it halfway across, and then most soldiers would be alerted to us. If we tried to use any moves to get across to distract soldiers leading them to another part of the street it would probably arise caution amongst the guards, and we didn't have a move that would provide us with a small enough of a projectile to hit a car on the other side of the street. Aqua's Ice Beam was too broad to use and still fresh, not yet mastered. The guards would see, no matter what we used it for.

Carefully, I took another look at their patrol to see if I could see anything that would help us. After some time of staying hidden behind the car, I saw it.

There was a blind spot in their patrol; their loop up and down the street wasn't a continuous one of three pairs of two guards patrolling up and down the street one after the other. By the time they reached near the east gate, two in fact group of guards would stop to talk leaving the last set of two guards alone out on patrol up and down the street. It had happened twice now, I really didn't think they did it that often but I suppose walking up and down the same street for a long time they would stop at some point. I told Aqua about this, pointing out how some stopped while one set of two continued on patrol alone.

Aqua glanced at the other group of seven soldiers on the left side us near the center, they were busy with something, not looking our way. "Do you think we can do this?"

"It is risky… we just gotta wait for the opportune moment to make our move, to time it right. And with a little luck we should make it across without them seeing us. But if they do, we just gotta run for it and dare I say it; hope that the soldiers don't see us or find us." Her paw tightened in mine, her breathing a little fast when we crouched closer to the edge of the car, watching the guards patrol the street. When two sets of guards stood at near the gate, the only two guards made their rounds, walking closer to our car before walking back around to return to the other side. No other guards were looking our way, we had the perfect opportunity to make our move to the alley across the street and continue from there, and so we did.

Crouching low, we moved as fast as we could, keeping my eye on the guards on the right walking back to the east gate if they decide to look back or return, then at the guards on the left. All of them were busy. Then by the time we had reached the halfway point, we heard it from the guards on the far right near the gate of the city. "Got 'em!" Both of us froze, almost panicking and jolting up immediately to make a run for the alley, until…

"Get off me man, I work here!" We looked, at a building beside the east gate; several soldiers could be seen dragging a man and woman outside pointing their guns at them. "We still have two more days here! You can't do this!"

"Shut up! You were warned to leave earlier!" One of the soldiers yelled, wrapping their wrists together before dragging them off somewhere else. Quickly, we crouched as fast as we could, almost jogging now to the entrance of the alley, passing one of the parked cars beside the building, until we were finally through. After going farther in, we hid behind a set of trashcans to catch some air… yeah, not catching any fresh air with the trashcans next to us, but it was a relief that we got passed them.

"I-I can't believe we got passed them…" I sighed, glancing towards the street, no soldiers were in pursuit of us, and so this was good. "All we gotta do is move up and continue on."

"It felt like we just walked up those stairs again in that Savior's building. Remember?" She asked. "It was exhausting, I was nervous just going further up fearing we would be caught. In some way with the street and all of those guards, it was kind of like that. But we have nowhere to run to, no building for us to hide inside this time." We looked at one another. "It's just the two of us out here, we need to be careful. Let's not do something like that again; I almost had a heart-attack."

I nodded. But with this many soldiers out here, we would most likely encounter more soldiers from here to the north gate.

It was a miracle that we had managed to get by without any one of them seeing us. A miracle we had walked throughout the majority of the city without being sighted. Maybe I had Aqua on that to call out the few close calls we had with the soldiers appearing all of a sudden in an alley to search for something I caught from a few talking about something as the 'Target' not being located yet. I wasn't sure why they were killing everything or kidnapping everyone they saw or who these even guys were but we slipped by them. Through the dark streets, passing each building staying as low as we possibly could proved to be a difficult one, a long walk through the city with its population only being the soldiers on the hunt for their target and not much else. But there was bad news for us, both the east gate and north gate had patrol guards standing outside them, so there was no way we could escape through either one of them. But we refused to give up, there was one other way we could get through, a place we heard a few times while sneaking past the guards not yet being patrolled by any guards at all; the train station and that the trains were still running.

* * *

**Castelia City – Train Station**

The station unlike the streets wasn't patrolled by any of the guards we saw out in the city, but instead it had several humans, some workers there at the station, and a few trying to get on some trains to leave the city. The station was old going as far back as almost fifty years old, built by old bricks that have been here since keeping the place up still strong. The walls painted a lime green color all over, kiosks selling muffins, donuts, coffee, and cafes at the side near the station entrance and just opposite the platform where a few passengers were just about to board before the trains left. Some trains would be leaving within the hour all heading to various places of the region, although one train that garnered interest for Aqua an I was one heading directly to Black City, a city on the opposite side of the Unova region, and going south from there would eventually if not a long trip would lead us to Nuvema Town. It looked as though that train would be the best one to get one since the others were all heading north of here by one or two cities apart.

Holding Aqua's paw, together we walked to the train, hoping to find some place for us to hide ourselves in until we arrive. Passing the barriers and walking towards the platform where the Black City train was heading to, leaving the station within thirty minutes, we stopped, and then quickly ran back. Five guards near the front of the train stepped off the train and began walking down the platform and towards us. They would've seen us if we lingered there any longer, so we hid behind a bench and crawled away to another platform with another train, a larger train with many boxcars attached and ready to go. When we approached the next platform, thankfully it was empty, giving us time to catch a breath or two and see where the guards were and what they would do next.

"Zack, what do we do?" Aqua clutched my arm close to her. I looked over at the guards on the other platform from the side of the boxcar; they remained there and patrolled the area, checking the IDs of all the people that passed through to board the train. I looked up at the timetable. This train we hid by was going to go to a city known as Nimbasa City in ten minutes from now.

I pointed my paw up at the timetable. "Aqua, this is going to be leaving soon. We should take this one and get out of the city. It doesn't look like the guards are going to be moving any time soon. We have to take this one. It'll be a longer journey than we originally planned, but at least we'll be safe." Aqua sighed happily, smiling at me but stayed silent, as if to say we finally made it.

"Hey, I found them!" We heard behind me, but it wasn't the guards, it was a voice we recognized; Jolty. Looking back, we saw Jolty the Umbreon running at us stopping a few meters apart from us with Leafeon and their son Eevee catching up

"W-what are you guys doing-" I was surprised at seeing them here, but even more surprised when I saw Jolty taking up a fighting stance, as if ready to strike at something, or at us… "J-Jolty, what are you doing?"

"Stay back Leafeon," he growled, "I got him! Just keep Eevee back and this will be over in a minute."

"Jolty, what's going on?" Aqua squeaked, but Jolty only growled more in response. "Why are doing this? There are guards just right over there on the other platform. If you start fighting they'll notice and come after us. Why are you doing this?" Audino said Purrloin's gang would come after them, but I never expected Jolty and his family to come after us like this.

"Leafeon, grab Aqua with your Vine Whip, make sure she doesn't run away. I got Zack, he won't run from-" A Vine Whip did come, but not at Aqua. Instead Leafeon used Vine Whip to strike Jolty across the face, and hard. Jolty shocked, slowly turned back to Leafeon as she approached him, a glare in her eyes with some tears leaking, and instead used her paws to slap him across the face. "L-Leafeon… I don't…"

"Jolty, stop it!"

"Leafeon, I-I'm only doing this to help us." He tried to explain, covering the slap mark Leafeon made across his face with his own paw. "Purrloin is offering the one who finds them and bring them back to the hideout a lot of caps. So many caps we'll be set for life. Eevee will have everything he'll ever want and we won't have to worry about the guards anymore."

"No! No…" She spat, before sobbing, shaking her head and slapping him across the face with her paw, but there wasn't much force to it and instead only looked as though she were patting him instead. "I don't want to go back to that place… that awful place, I hate It." she sobbed, looking up at him as she did almost breaking down into tears. "I never wanted to be a part of her gang. Purrloin's cruel, nasty gang who punish those that make a minor accident, breaking a cup and then having one of her thugs or her beat them senselessly. They almost went after our son after he left the hideout. Did you forget that? Did you forget all of the things they said they would do to our son if he or any one of us went out of line?" Jolty stared at his mate, his ears dropped, but stayed silent. "They would kill him… make us watch while Purrloin would torture him, our son until he died. And Purrloin knows how to make it last a long time. I wanted to leave that place a long time ago with our son so he could have a better life out of this city, away from Purrloin. I had even asked Audino and Metagross if they would help us to escape, she accepted. I just want my son to live a happy life. Don' you want him to live a happy life? Away from the gangs? The fear on having Purrloin or her bodyguards from ganging up on you and attacking you just by glancing their way for a moment? I don't ever want him to become like her, to be included as a bodyguard, pushing Pokemon around like they are nothing. What kind of life is that for anyone?"

Jolty looks to his son to see him shivering behind his mother. He did that a lot when they argued. The young Pokemon had seen a lot of bad at the hideout. Jolty did want him to have a better life, and he thought by getting caps he could accomplish that. He would be teaching his son that this was the way he should be living. "B-but if we did escape… Purrloin or her bodyguards would come after us." A tear trickled down his cheek. "They would hurt you again, Leafeon. I don't want our son to be hurt or you. I don't know what to do."

Leafeon walked up to him and hugged him with her paws. "Jolty, we'll be alright if we stay together and always be on the move. I'm sure Purrloin won't ever find us, that one day she might give up on us. We'll find someplace where we can be safe, we won't ever have to run ever again."

Jolty then asks "Are you sure this is what you want? To do this right here and now, escape the city before Purrloin realizes we are gone?" Leafeon pushed away and nodded with a smile. Jolty and Leafeon looked at us, "Zack, Aqua… I'm sorry, I was stupid. But you guys need to get out of the city while you can. Her bodyguards are everywhere."

"What about you three?" Aqua asked, before all of us jumped immediately after when the freighter had blown its horn ready to depart.

"It'll be safer if we all split up. We'll find a way out of the city ourselves."

Leafeon quickly moved in to hug the both of us, with Eevee following to hug Aqua. "Good luck, you two. I'm sure if luck is on our sides we'll see each other again somewhere out there. Take care." And with that, all five of us ran in our separate directions; Aqua and I running as fast as we could towards one of a few open boxcar doors, and Jolty, Leafeon with their son in the opposite direction and back out of the station through the entrance, earning the attention of a few soldiers noticing the family escape the station, and hopefully soon the city safe from harm.

We finally climbed up inside one of the few open boxcars, setting down against a sack of seeds stored inside stacked in a pile at the back as if they were all thrown inside. A little uncomfortable to rest against, but the best thing we had to celebrate our freedom from the city. We looked at each other and smiled without saying a word, I guess we were just exhausted after everything that day. But we were free from Purrloin's gang and our goal to get to Nuvema Town was still set. It would be a long one, perhaps weeks or months, but it felt good to be away from their knowing we were safe.

* * *

**Castelia City – North Gate**

Thirty armed guards stood aiming their weapons at many of Purrloin's Pokemon including Purrloin herself at the front with Lucian kneeling beside her with their paws on top of their heads as instructed to them or else they would have their heads blown off, an order some of Purrloin's gang had to do in order to not just survive but to continue with their game.

Valentine still wearing his lab coat yawned as he exited the van adjusting his glasses as he approached one of the soldiers aiming his weapon at the Pokemon. "So, what the heck happened here? Pokemon, huh? Didn't think there were any left in this city after we came. Not this many, but less than this."

"We found them wandering the city. Orders were to capture any remaining Pokemon within the city, by orders of the cap-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah we get it." He interrupted the solider. "The Cap decided to go AWOL on us not two days in. He and his daughter are gone so we can assume he took his daughter and ran off… somewhere. So now I am in charge, a little early but expected because of how predictable the captain was; lack of sleep for days, glancing at a photo of his daughter every day, pacing up and down the city almost nonstop. The signs were all there, and no one pointed it out, except for me that is. The man was scared for not his own life but for his own daughter. Any parents would be if their child's life was on the line, which his daughter's life was. And so he upped and vanished."

When the scientist had walked further down the line of soldiers, the soldier Valentine had talked too glanced to another soldier on his right, and he looked at him whispering. "I liked the captain a lot more than this nut."

Then all of the soldiers had stopped as they including Purrloin's gang noticed high above the city Shiny Latias at top speed fly down towards them stopping directly in front of Valentine, sending a small gust of wind almost knocking off his glasses, from which he easily adjusted with his index finger.

Shiny Latias, still wearing the Latias headed helmet turned her head at Purrloin's gang staring at each member in the eye as they too looked directly at her, some with confusion, others anxiety for what the humans were about to do to them and who the Shiny Latias was. "And who are they, Valentine?" She asked, levitating closer towards the Pokemon, searching for a Pokemon amongst the crowd she wanted to find, but couldn't because I was not there.

"Pokemon we found left in the city still."

Shiny Latias levitated a little closer to the Pokemon and asked "I am looking for someone. He is a white Dewott with black and red eyes." It was all she said to them, noticing that all of them reacted to that; she even caught some of them saying the name 'Zack' she smirked. "We are looking for him. Tell us now where we might find him and we will let you all go."

"We're looking for him too." Shiny Latias lowered her head down at Purrloin to find that she too was also smirking, readying her claws. Something Shiny Latias noticed. "I take it you are his friend?"

"You could say that. Are you his friend? Someone he cares for? Are you his ally?" She asked, but Purrloin didn't answer either one of them, not willingly. She instead swiped her paw at her throat, intending to stab Shiny Latias with Purrloin's claw. Purrloin had figured she was the human soldier's leader, and with their leader dying, she assumed it would leave the rest of the soldiers all too shocked for her to order the rest of her gang to attack the humans and continue with the game. She was wasting so much time already, that every second she wasted felt like hours had passed granting Aqua and I more time to get away.

Purrloin's claw had touched the Latias' throat, but it didn't pierce the skin to draw even the slightest of blood. She gasped as a purple-like aura completely surrounding her paw, and then she glanced up at Shiny Latias' visible through her open visor staring at her. "Nice try. You would've succeeded if I hadn't seen you ready your paw like that when I asked. Now who is Zack Raines to you? Why are you all after him?"

"We are trying to get him back from that venomous Oshawott bitch!" She fought, still trying to push her claw into Shiny Latias' throat. "She took him away from us! She needs to die!"

"Oh? And where does that leave Zack then? Do you plan on killing him?"

"No. Only the Oshawott needs to die. So unhand me at once you stupid Latias so me and my gang can catch up to- gak!" Shiny Latias grabbed hold of Purrloin's throat with her Psychic, strangling her while lifting her up off the ground.

"Are you calling me stupid?" She asked in a voice rather dull, holding Purrloin up closer to her face. "In my position, you and you gang are helpless against me alone. I could easily wipe all of you out with a single blast leaving nothing but bits of flesh. I don't take too kindly to insults directed at me, or else they'd be punished for it." She glanced over Purrloin and at her gang. "Maybe I should kill all of them leaving you alone. Do you want me to? Or do you want to apologize to me for saying I am stupid, which I am obviously not?"

Purrloin, despite being held up by Shiny Latias' Psychic grasp struggled out words Shiny Latias could identify as 'I'm s-sorry' as best as she could, then gasping for air once Shiny Latias released her, dropping her to the ground.

Shiny Latias lowered herself to be at Purrloin's level, helping her up with her paw. "I forgive you. I believe you and I could become allies." She said, making Purrloin raise an eye. "You see; Zack… he… well I need him- I mean, I want to find him as much as you do. Now I if Zack has already escaped the city, where would he go? Do you have any idea as to where he might have gone to?"

"N-no…" Purrloin coughed, kneeling now. "He didn't say where he was going. The Oshawott just grabbed him and ran off!"

"An Oshawott you say?"

Purrloin nodded. "A shiny one, a female one, Zack came into our gang together on the same day we found him injured washed up on the beach."

Shiny Latias turned towards Valentine, standing there amongst the soldiers with his arms crossed as he listened in, only to Shiny Latias who spoke in the human tongue almost all the time except for Purrloin. "Could this Oshawott be your one you have been searching for Valentine? The same shiny Oshawott that you experimented on years ago?"

Valentine adjusted his glasses again, it wasn't really necessary. "Well it could be. Although the chances that this Oshawott being the same one that I had the fortune on treating at my lab with Team Annihilation all those years ago teamed up with your white Dewott… well it is kind of slim. Although not impossible since over the years we have had reports of intel seeing a family, one family of Oshawott's similar to the three that had escaped the lab… very curious indeed."

"Hm, I think this could go both ways then." She said, turning her head back to face Purrloin, a smile hidden in the helmet. "You and I both have the same goal; you are looking for him, and so am I. We can help each other by searching this city first, then out of the city and beyond for Zack and his little Oshawott friend. We'll be a team helping each other out." Shiny Latias moved her face closer to Purrloin, their eyes locked. "You will help me search all over the Unova region with your gang to look for Zack and his Oshawott companion." Her eyes glowed brighter, her ability to control all who looked her in the eyes had taken hold of Purrloin. "You will not stop until they are found. You must not kill Zack. However, do as you want with the Oshawott. Understand Purrloin? Say that you understand."

Purrloin nodded her head first before saying "I understand. With my gang, we shall search all over the region to find and capture Zack. The Oshawott will die for taking him away from me." Shiny Latias smiled and patted Purrloin on the head.

"Good. I believe you and I will become quite the team."

To be continued...

* * *

**Trivia:**

Zack like the previous stories were supposed to get more travelling companions, but i wanted to try a duo team in this one.

AN: Castelia City is done and the duo are about to take on the Unova region. This chapter would've been chapter 10, but i wanted to explore more with Purrloin's gang first. Well, next chapter should be up soon. Again, thanks for reading and until next time.


	16. Chapter 16 To Nimbasa City

Chapter 16 – To Nimbasa City

* * *

****

**Train Heading to Nimbasa City**

Light at the end of the tunnel, after five minutes of complete darkness the moons light shinned down below as the train went at high speeds on the tracks towards its destination; Nimbasa City. We would reach Nimbasa in three hours or less, so we used that time for us to catch some sleep before getting off and trying to find a place to fully rest up. We were going to need our strength for the road ahead if we wanted to reach Nuvema Town.

I had trouble sleeping long into the night, nervous that the guards were on the train with us ready to ambush us when we wake up or something like that, or Purrloin's gang would come after us. Turning to my right, I saw Aqua leaning her head on my chest as she lay there sleeping peacefully, not too long after the train had left the city. It had been tough for her these past few weeks, but we safe from Purrloin and her gangs reach.

With the boxcar door opened, I watched the outside of the train as it passed many trees moving so fast making everything blurry, until I turned my head up to look up at the stars.

"_I wonder if anyone else is out there."_ I thought, wandering if there was any point to travelling all the way to Nuvema Town, if I still had friends and or family searching for me, waiting for me to come home. I lightly touched my eye patch, slightly rubbing it a little after feeling my left eye itch. I lifted the eye patch up off my left eye and opened it up… but I would never see anything again through my left eye. _"I wish I did have a left eye, and then I wouldn't keep on having to turn my head to the left just to get a look outside the train… at least the fresh air is nice."_ My scars had healed up nicely, no longer hurting as much as they did a week ago. A Dewott covered in scars from head to toe. Scars with each a story to tell, but not a story I could recall, my memory was still gone.

"You're still awake." She said groggily as she woke up. "How long was I asleep for?"

"An hour I think."

"An hour?" She groaned, while wiping the sleep from her eyes. "I'm still exhausted… maybe after we got off the train soon, we find a place to sleep in? Maybe a little quieter and less shakiness involved?"

I chuckled. "I'm sure we'll find somewhere to sleep after the train stops. Maybe that book could help us find somewhere good?" I opened the flaps of the bag and took the book out and handed it to Aqua, flicking the pages until she reached the N section of the book.

In the book we saw the page 'Nimbasa City' with all of the buildings and sights the city had to offer. There was a theme park with a lot of attractions in it from the looks of it; rollercoaster's, a huge Ferris wheel, a haunted house, and so much more. In the city section were a baseball stadium, a dance theater, and a lot of bright buildings. A little flashy than the darkness Castelia City was almost engulfed in, but a brighter one nonetheless. "The train will make a stop here at the station near the southern part of the city." Aqua pointed at the station on the map of the city, trailing her paw to some of the nearby locations we could use as a place to rest up for when we get off. "There's a small park just outside the train station, tall bushes and flowers surrounded by a railing no one can enter, so maybe that'll be okay for us. it'll be out in the open, maybe cold… maybe that'll be a backup if we can't find anywhere else good for the night. Or how about we find a place in one of the back alleys near the cafes and restaurants in the center of the city? Or do you think we have had our share of alleys once in a lifetime?"

"Somewhere indoors would be nice." I said glancing at the map for any location near the train station we could stay at until the morning. Wanting to get as much distance as we could away from Castelia City as possible. "We shouldn't draw ourselves much attention. Who knows if Purrloin has or hasn't sent out a few of her gang members to track us down by now."

"I hope not. I hope they have already given up on us and have returned back to the hideout. But we should look for a place to stay for the night immediately and quickly and out of sight." Aqua stared at map closely, and then turned the pages until she was at the first page; a map of the entire Unova region, pointing at first Castelia City, then trailed her paw to Nuvema Town. "It would've taken us two days to walk from the city to Nuvema Town." Then she pointed at Nimbasa city, and trailed her paw upwards to the next city, the next route, trailing her paw right passing a snow area, then at the corner of the page, and then down until she was pointing at Nuvema Town. "This will take a long time to get to from the city. If the maps direction is correct, it'll take a month for us to reach the town."

I sighed back, leaning against the large sack. "We're going to need some food and supplies to last the journey. Hey, it's a good thing you learnt something about berries in class."

Aqua shifted a little, chuckling nervously. "Uh… yeah, the thing about that is I only learned just the one kind of berry that'll be useful for treating status effects; a Persim Berry, it'll heal confusion. But is it filling you might ask? Hm, not really. Better to leave that for when you actually need it. Although it does last when picked a long time, so if you see it feel free to grab as much as you need." Aqua frowned as she turned her head away from me. "I would've liked to have learnt more."

"Hey, it'll be alright. We'll manage." I placed my arm around her shoulder to cheer her up. I also remembered seeing a library in Driftveil somewhere, so maybe we could go there and find a book about berries? "We have plenty of food to last us for two days, maybe more if we ration it out. There is a library in Driftveil City, so I'm sure there are tons of books about berries and healing items you can read. But we will be alright." Aqua smiled as she hugged me.

"Hey Zack, once we arrive in Nuvema Town, and if we meet your trainer, do you think they would let me stay with them?"

"Of course. I'm sure my trainer would be happy to welcome you in to the group if we have any." I smiled, happy that Aqua wanted to stay with me. I thought after the end of our journey once we reached Nuvema Town, I don't know; she would leave somewhere? But I was happy knowing she would be with me during the journey and after it.

"How do you know that? Your trainer might not be so welcoming."

"Well, I'll persuade them to change their minds." I smiled "I'm pretty sure after we somehow explain to them about we went through; how you and I have become friends they'll be accepting of you" I said, still saying that not yet fully realizing that I was speaking the human language at all times. I was surprised now not one Pokemon in the gang realized this.

Aqua smiled as she closed her eyes, ready to sleep. "I had another vision while I was sleeping. You want to hear it, or would you rather wait to be surprised?"She said, noticing that her cheeks were a little red.

"Oh? So what is it?" I asked, curious at what this surprise was. She snuggled closer and giggled.

"I had a vision we were in a city somewhere, dark but brightly lit with fireworks in the sky. You and I were dancing together while music was being played in the distance. But the future isn't set, it can be changed. So I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to or not. But you know it could very well be just only a dream that I saw instead of a true vision." She giggled before drifting off to sleep. "You should get some sleep Zack. You're going to need to regain your energy once we get to the city. Good night Zack."

"Goodnight Aqua." But I didn't sleep that night; not on the train I mean. I kept myself awake, not wanting to wake up long after we stopped at the station for someone to find us and take us away or something. I guess I was still worried about those soldiers back in Castelia City. If they were on the other train, maybe a few of them would be on this one but up ahead, waiting to get off once we reached Nimbasa City.

I sat there unsure what she meant to that. _"Us dancing to some music in a city?"_ I thought as I watched her sleep beside me. I wasn't much a dancer back before I lost my memory. To be honest, I was a pretty lousy dancer, flailing my arms and legs around trying to look like I know what was going on. It always casted a few looks that made me feel very awkward and regretting ever walking onto the dance floor. I thought back to how she said that the future wasn't set and it could be changed, that it was my choice to do so. _"Does she want me to dance with her? I have never danced after losing my memory. I don't know how or if I had any memory of ever doing so. 'Or it could very well be just only a dream that she saw instead of a vision.' I'm not sure what her visions are like, how they are shown to her, if they are played out to her like a dream." _I didn't know how to dance, and I was self conscious about gaining that much attention out there. But then I remembered how she giggled like that, the blush. _"Maybe if we do dance it'll be fun. I wonder if it was a vision. Maybe it'll be nice…"_ I didn't dance much way back then, didn't know how. But I was glad not to have a memory of me not liking it or doing it not so often. If this turned out to be a vision, then I would probably try and dance with her, give it all that I had. But if it had been only a dream, well I guess it was just a dream.

But it did give me a nice thought of us dancing together to some music. Back in the hideout, there wasn't anything like that, no activity involving dancing. So doing something like this I was having a small bit of hope build up that it was a vision, something to look forward to. If I did have my memory on me not dancing as much and finding myself being awkward at time while doing it, I might've refused to do so right then and there. Although, if I did dance if this thing Aqua said about us dancing was as a vision, maybe it would spark a memory about me dancing before?

We would be getting off in Nimbasa City soon; we would find a place for us to sleep and afterwards we would start our journey to reach Nuvema Town throughout the Unova region. Although I didn't know it at the time, but I would realize at some point that Aqua's visions would help me to remember about who I was before, and I also hoped that her visions would help protect us along the way back home.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter was a part of chapter 15 and ends with Zack and Aqua sleeping together on the train.

**AN: Yeah, that's all I got for this chapter or could think of. Next chapter will be a larger chapter as long as 5k words, wanting to avoid writing as little as 2k or less words as possible. Next chapter up soon, and as always, Thanks for reading and until next time. **


	17. Chapter 17 Scavengers

**AN: Sorry for being late with this one, i'll try and upload the next chapter in a few days from now. So please enjoy chapter 17 everyone. Take it easy out there.**

Chapter 17 – Scavengers

* * *

****

**Nimbasa City**

Morning, a new day in the city and our first away from the Purrloin's gang. Last night after the train had stopped at Nimbasa City train station, we didn't find any trouble once getting off; no station guards or staff members to slow us down or try to catch us, or wild Pokemon lurking in the shadows while we walked through the city this late of night. It didn't take us long to search for a place to spend the night, the place we did spend the night was behind a café just outside the station providing us with large boxes to sleep in and large cut up cardboard to sleep on. The small alley thankfully had no Pokemon occupying it once we got there. Two trashcans, empty in the corner beside the cafes back door, and surprisingly the cleanest looking alley we has ever been in. so I guess you could say we were in love with this alley from the moment we got here. It wasn't worse than the living conditions of Purrloin's gang, but it was better than nothing, a little cold out, but at least we got enough sleep that night.

"Ah, morning Zack." Aqua stood up and stretched off the cardboard and into the middle of the alley, basking in the suns light. "I take it you didn't get a comfortable night's sleep then?"

"Y-Yeah, really thought last night the cardboard would be somewhat comfortable to sleep on for how thick it was. What a letdown that was… Let's have some food, I'm starving." I opened the bag setting down the remaining food and drink on the cardboard; a bag of potato chips, dried fruit, a half-eaten bag of cookies, a liter of water, and a small boxed carton of Oran juice. Before getting off the train with twenty minutes left until we arrived, we did have some food. I thought we had rationed it all out, that we would last two days with the food we had taken with us. "This is it…"

"Are you sure?" Aqua sat down beside me and looked in the bag, only finding the map book of the Unova region, the sleeping bags we had taken with us. Now I know what you're thinking, why didn't we use the sleeping bags that night? The answer to this is because we forgot about it… yeah… "Wow, we sure did eat a lot more than we shouldn't had done last night."

We had to keep moving soon, but with the food and water we had, it wouldn't last us long. A day from the looks of it. But out here away from Purrloin's hideout in her gang, we couldn't use bottle caps as a currency here, we would either have to find some berries on a bush, or perhaps take some food from a stall set up around the city. Neither Aqua or myself didn't know much about surviving out in the wild, Aqua had her parents for that, and I had no memory of ever being out by myself or surviving out in the wild. "Aqua, before we leave the city we'll have to gather some food and water for the road ahead. We're not going to last long with all of this."

She nodded. "So what do we do? I mean we are not in Purrloin's hideout anymore so we can't use caps to trade for things here. My parents brought me my food when I lived with them. So what; we just search the city for some? But where?" 

Where indeed though? This city was large, yet we had no skill on how to live like wild Pokemon in cities, so where could we go to search for some food? Steal some from a marketplace? A store? Find some food lying around somewhere or get lucky with finding a bush full of edible berries?

* * *

****

**Nimbasa City – Main Plaza**

So after leaving the alley we entered the plaza, our first place to look for some food and water, a pretty large open area with a large marbled Magikarp fountain in the cneter, flower patches in the four corners with benches for people to sit at, a mime with a Mr Mime in a cooperative act attracting several people mostly children. The place had more people than Castelia City had hundreds more both young and old walking with their Pokemon. So walking out in the open we were a little cautious, anxious that one or two of the Pokemon we passed or saw some look right at us were Purrloin's gang members out to catch us, but thankfully none of them were, something we would could relax about after getting some use to. But one thing we didn't relax about too much were the humans staring at us, or rather me because of my white fur and eye.

I'd believe it would come off as a regional variant that had happened to come to the Unova region with a trainer most likely, a rare sight in the Unova region. But us two walking around the city, two wild Pokemon without a trainer we would be up for grabs. It isn't everyday you see a wild starter Pokemon of the region walking around, a shiny Oshawott and especially an alternative colored Dewott. Trainers walking the city would see us and most likely attempt to try and catch the both of us. So how to avoid capture, well hiding wasn't one of them since there weren't that many places for us to hide, no back alleys or cars to hide behind this time, so we had to find some other way to get through the city. So our last choice was to walk with a human going our way; right across the plaza, through the city, anywhere we might need to go we would stick close to a human.

We did find an elderly woman we stayed close to walking through the plaza pretending she was our trainer so the humans wouldn't try to catch us. The woman we walked with didn't' seem to mind all that much while we walked close to her, finding delight that two wild Pokemon approached her like this.

We didn't have any problem while walking through the plaza with that many people staring at us, no random trainer or two approaching the woman and asking her where she got us from and wondering if they would trade their Pokemon for us, and then the woman would say we didn't belong to her and we would be up for the taking, but that never happened.

When we finally reached the corner of the plaza where one of three exits to this plaza was, the woman stopped and looked back, kneeling down to our level and stroked Aqua's ear first and then doing the same to mine before waving and walking out of the plaza. So to make sure no other trainer back at the plaza saw seeing us two alone here, we immediately ran to hide underneath an unoccupied bench to plan out our next move.

"See any good places to find some food or water?" She whispered, watching as a group of humans passed us, unaware of the two of us under the bench. We searched the plaza from where we were for some food we could grab; three humans, a man and two women handing out free samples of crackers with some kind of green paste smeared on it… there weren't enough anyway. There was also a popcorn stand near the mime duo; it wouldn't last long if we managed to grab a box, probably go stale before the end of the day, no we needed food that would last longer. And lastly there were fruit stalls at the marketplace a little walk away from the plaza could be good. A little crowded, but it might work well for us to slip in and out without anyone noticing.

"There's a fruit stall over there, by the crowded section. See it?" I pointed over at the small market were we could see fruits being sold. There were a lot of them, so when we do manage to grab ourselves a handful each, we could last two days or more depending on how well we do later to continue on our search for some supplies before leaving the city. I had never stolen anything before in my life, before I lost my memories, but we needed the food to survive the journey. "We just gotta do the same and find someone to walk with until we get there, grab as much as we can and run as fast as we can and hide somewhere in the city."

"What if we're caught? Should we use our moves" I hadn't thought of that until she said that. If we were caught stealing and running away, surely someone would tell officials about us; a white Dewott and shiny Oshawott stealing from a market so close to Castelia City, word would perhaps travel fast and if Purrloin had connections or gang members within this city already, then we wouldn't be safe for long here.

"We should avoid being seen doing so. We should just go there, take whatever we can before anyone noticed, and then walk away from the marketplace like we weren't here." I looked back to see if anyone walking by looked as though they were heading towards the marketplace. I'm not sure what I was looking for, a sign that the many people that passed the bench were even heading to the market, their looks I suppose? Carrying an empty basket? Yeah, that might work. Or was it just guessing, a guess that this person out of the hundred that passed by were heading to the market, a straight shot there providing us with safe passage? Either way, that's what we did.

I took hold of Aqua's paw as we crawled out from under the bench together and walked beside a young woman wearing a summer dress and straw hat towards the marketplace from the looks of it. She already had an empty basket with her, so we thought she was going to use said basket to fill it up with the fruit from the market, until she made a sudden right turn halfway between the bench we hid under and the market to see she was making her way over to the bakery. We stopped right outside, pretending to be waiting for out 'trainer' or waiting for another human to walk with to the market. Some humans that passed us noticed us standing there, gesturing to their friends to us, friends that had Pokemon out with them, trainers perhaps, some grabbing at their Pokeball belt. But luckily for us the humans walked away back to their own business leaving us two, nervously waiting for a human to walk directly towards the market providing us with safe passage.

Not long after waiting outside of the bakery, a random choice out of a few people walking by we decided to follow a man wearing a suit and tie walking towards the market again pretending to be the man's Pokemon providing him company as he walked, and again the humans saw us walking with the man and hopefully assumed we belonged to him and wouldn't attempt to capture us. We stayed a little bit back away from the man so he wouldn't notice us following him and shooing us away. Although I am not sure what would've happened if he had noticed us following him. I would assume he would've ignored us thinking we were just walking the same direction as him, maybe thinking we belonged to some other trainers nearby getting us to prank someone for some online video or something? I don't know. But I'm glad he didn't, we didn't want to attract so much awareness to us, watching us as we approach the marketplace to see what we do next for us stealing the food to be noticed and alerted to.

Many fruit stalls, many choices we could go for and leave without being seen if we were too greedy or didn't check before taking the fruits. We would probably only be able to carry a handful, place them in the bag as fast as we could and get out of there without causing a scene. With all of these People around the marketplace, the crowd allowing us to blend right in seemed like this would be an easy one. Take as much as we could possibly want and walk out of there totally scot-free.

With Aqua beside me after leaving the man wearing the suit's company, we walked over to the far end stall just near the plaza exit and into the other parts of the street where the baseball stadium and movie theater was. One of two of the closest and possible locations we could escape to if we were seen stealing, one of the places we could stay inside until the heat cooled down. With my right paw I held Aqua's left while we walked closer to the stall, carefully watching the people at the stall; customers picking out various fruits and buying them from the merchant behind the stall. A keen eye watched each approaching customer or browser, especially those that had gotten too close to the man's wares, hands slightly lifting but remained too low for their hands to reach the sweet fruits. We stood at the side of two elderly couple selecting their fruits from the stall; oranges, apples, bananas carefully placed inside a paper bag. The merchant watched the couple, and I carefully watched the merchant, lightly tugging on Aqua's paw to let her know that we could make our move.

The plan was to wait by the stall close to some customers picking out their fruits. One would watch the merchant and the surrounding area for people noticing us stealing the fruit, while the other would pick out some fruit one or two at a time al depending on the situation and place them inside the bag, then swapping our roles around until we managed to get a good share of fruit and leaving while remaining unnoticed.

"Come get your fruit." The merchant loudly said above the loud crowd of the marketplace attracting customers to his stall. "Fresh and delicious fruit grown right here in Nimbasa City all for a good low pri- H-hey! You thieves!" We looked up at the merchant to find him looking right at us as I already had a handful of berries in my paw. Holding Aqua's paw tighter and dropping the berries to the floor, we ran out of there as fast as we could. Swiftly evading the tall legs of the people we passed, avoiding some of their Pokemon as best we could to avoid capture and battling.

"Z-Zack… w-where are we going?" she gasped as we ran together through the streets. "I don't s-see anyone chasing us!"

"J-just keep running. We got to get to somewhere where we can hide for a while." I panted, running now towards the two buildings; Baseball on the left, and the movie theater on the right. We ran to the right down the alley, finding an open door and entering it to find ourselves in a dark corridor and out of breath.

* * *

****

**Nimbasa City – Movie Theater**

In the movie theatres, hiding in the back underneath the seat from anyone in pursuit of Aqua and I, we ran into this room were a movie was being shown. We sat there trying to catch our breath from all of the running we did, and keeping our hearts from bursting out of our chests from the adrenaline kicking in from almost being caught. After a quick look inside the bag at all of the fruits and berries we managed to take, I was relieved at how much we had thinking we wouldn't mange to get as much as we could, but to my surprise, we got ourselves fourteen berries; eight Oran berries, four Tamato berries… good thing we managed to grab one of those for how spicy they are(!), and two Grepa berries. And for the fruit we managed; five apples, two bananas and three oranges.

"I'm surprised at this amount." I whispered to Aqua showing the contents of the bag to her. "Hopefully we'll last until we reach the next city with all of this."

"We have got food down for now, but we'll need some water first before leaving." She whispered as she reached inside the bag and grabbed the two bottles of water we had left. I thought we had more than that? "Where do you think we could get some more?"

I looked around first at the parent and child eating popcorn and drinking what appeared to be some soda in a cup. It wasn't water, but I guess it would have to do for now. I mean, do theaters serve water or is it just sodas and slushies? "Well, those two over there near the front have a drink in that cup of theirs. So maybe we'll find some drinks to take with us."

"Thank you for saving us!" children screamed in unison on the big screen playing the movie being shown. My head turned towards the screen where the movie was being played. And then I saw a character for the first time seen in my new no memory life but seen many times before I lost my memory.

It was a movie that would've stuck her to the seat and refused to move out of it until the movie had ended two times in a row, it was a movie based on a popular animated series my friend and later mate loved so much; Super Latias. It was a Latias dressed up in a red cape and mask saving people of a city, being this hero everyone in the city adored and looked up to. Besides me and Aqua, there were only two humans, a man and a young girl watching the movie with a bag of popcorn in hand, Latias would've loved to be in there to watch the movie, she would've squealed in delight every time as her favourite character popped up on screen and saving people, almost not caring about the other people watching the movie.

I didn't like the series that much; I thought it was boring and unappealing to me despite being 'forced' to watch it with Latias' tight iron hold so she had someone to watch it with her… almost one thousand episodes long plus twenty movies… but despite having so many memories of this, who it involved, I had no memory of this. Not one fragment or sudden burst of memories of ever watching this show with Latias came to me, like I had never seen this before.

"Wow, a Latias." She said in amazement as she saw the Latias on screen high above the city fast like a jet soar the heavens as she watched over the city… or something like that. "Have you ever seen one up close before? I have when I was young. I heard they are legendary Pokemon from another region. A very rare sighting to be seen in the wild, especially here in this region from what I heard in my neighborhood at the time growing up."

I shook my head, glancing back at Super Latias now stopping as she levitated high above the clouds and watched the horizon over the city. "I don't think so. So when did you see a Latias?"

"Do you remember when I told you, Leafeon, and Noctowl about those monsters that attacked the city on our way to the Savior's building for the supply run?" I nodded. "I remember seeing a strange Pokemon I had never seen before. It was red and white with amber eyes, like that one on the screen." She pointed with her paw when the Latias flew back down to the city to meet with her friends. "I tried asking my parents what it was, but they didn't know what it was. But after a year after the attack, one of the neighbors in my alley approached me with an old newspaper they found in the trashcan nearby and showed me an image of one of the Pokemon that helped saved me. And right there on the middle was the image of the Pokemon with three other humans and another Dewott. 'Latias' is what it said on the paper. I think it was a flying type because it was flying everywhere, I had never seen anything like it."

For a while, the two of us watched the screen. I won't go into too much detail on what the movie was about, but one scene I did notice, maybe even sparked a memory, a little memory awakening from at the back of my head perhaps where all of my memories yet to be remembered awoken inside. It was a small memory, a memory of when I was young no older than ten years old. It was someone's birthday party and I was there standing in the middle of a room next to a red and white Pokemon blurry in my mind as we attempted to juggle with some apples. It might not be important, but it was a nice memory one I remembered smiling at while looking at the screen finding a great sense of happiness and warmth the longer I tried to remember more.

To Aqua, it looked as though I were smiling at the comical situation involving Super Latias and her friends trying to have fun together by attempting to juggle. But I was smiling at the pleasant thought of something I didn't know at the time to be something from my past.

* * *

****

**Nimbasa City – Gardens**

By the edge of the city, a short walk away from the city exit to move on from Nimbasa to the next, we stopped at Nimbasa City gardens, a place we could see something other than concrete and steel Aqua and I had seen since Castelia City living in Purrloin's hideout for the past month. It wasn't exactly a large area like a public park, it was small like half the size of a football field, or maybe a little smaller than one but it did have a lot of vegetation and tall trees growing here making it all look bigger on the outside, like stepping into a forest growing in the city.

"It sure is nice here." Aqua sighed as she leaned back on the soft grass in the middle of the gardens, taking in the fresh air, a welcome change to the old rotting air inside Purrloin's hideout. "I'd like to ask if we could stay here, but I already know the answer to that, we can't stay because of how close we are to Castelia City."

I sat beside her and agreed. "Yeah. We're so close that we may end up running into one of Purrloin's gang members during another supply run sometime soon, if what they say about Purrloin hunting down those that run away is true; that she'll never stop looking for them, we can never be safe from them unless we get as far away from the city as we can."

"But isn't Nuvema Town close to Castelia City? After looking at the map, it's a two day walk from the city to the town. Do you think that's far enough?"

"Well, maybe after we get there and if we get answers; who I am and my past, we could leave the region." I said without really thinking of it.

"Another region?" She said, sitting up from the grass. "How would we convince your trainer to go to another region?" I shrugged, unsure how we could even try if I had a trainer.

"_I suppose charades would probably do to help explain what has happened recently." _I thought about telling a trainer I thought I had, trying to explain to them about everything that had happened. I suppose what would happen once we reached Nuvema Town at the laboratory we'll meet with Professor Juniper. Then she would recognize me and tell the others that I had arrived safe and sound with multiple scars and an eye patch over my left eye. "I don't know, but we'll think of something."

I looked to the side of me to see the filled bag full of food and supplies to last us to the next city. We had been lucky on getting ourselves a surprisingly good amount of food, but also we managed to get ourselves a few bottles worth of soda from the store room before we were eventually caught by the staff forcing us to make a hasty retreat from there.

We would soon leave the city before night approaches, but before that we stayed in the gardens, relaxing in peace we hadn't had for a long time. It would be a long journey; a path which we would walk down would be full of all kinds of dangers ahead. I had hoped that by the time we had reached Nuvema Town, once again we would have another moment of peace. The kind of peace Latias and I had originally planned before all of this.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

The scene near the end at the movie theater was originally at the baseball stadium while a game was on, but it didn't really have much going on and it would instead the entire chapter would be somewhat of a filler chapter.


	18. Chapter 18 New Ability To Use

Chapter 18 – New Ability To Use

* * *

****

**Route 5**

"Morning, Zack." A familiar voice woke me up from my dreamless sleep that morning, Aqua's cheerful voice and giggle as she sat next to me with a cute smile, handing me several berries to eat for breakfast. Something about seeing that smile and hearing that cute giggle… the tone and the way it felt familiar to me somehow, as though I had heard something like it before. But I didn't pry too much on it since my stomach was literally begging me to accept the berries and dig right in from the moment I woke up.

"Thank you." I grabbed the berries and sat up eating them. The sweet juices burst into my mouth when I bit down into it, a taste which instantly woke me up completely. The juices from the Oran berry dripped down my cheek as I ate one after the other quickly. We were already out of Oran berries, and apples since last night, almost half of our food left. I knew we had to ration out our supplies better, it was a thing we had to take better control of, but we had hoped along the way we would stumble upon a berry bush or something to help provide us with some food for the journey.

Yesterday after leaving Nimbasa city, a short walk out but staying as far as we could should anyone decided to come look for a white Dewott and his shiny Oshawott companion who stole some fruits and berries at the marketplace, we found a small an hour into the route we saw by chance when looking for a palce to stay for the night. It was a small cave hidden behind a bush, an entrance covered by branches hanging from a tree overhead with large leaves. The inside was surprisingly clean in a way, hardly any dirt, rocks, and it was quite comfortable and warm. The perfect home for any wild Pokemon I guess; a little bit out of the way of the main path and hard to find as long as a small gust of wind doesn't reveal the cave too often then you should be fine. Not much was known about the surrounding area about food and water. So calling this place the perfect home for a wild Pokemon was to be determined since we didn't know the area, but we would soon, but only for a short while until we get our strength back and ready to continue on.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

I gulped down the last Oran berry along with its sweet juices bursting in my mouth and nodded. "It was nice. It's a shame we'll have to get going soon, because this place sure is nice. I found this place to be a lot comfier than the alley in Nimbasa and our room in Purrloin's gang."

"You think so too? I don't know why but something about this cave was better than it was. We had nothing to use as something to rest on except for the dried leaves, but it felt as though we were resting on a mattress just like the one from our room. The cave was warm inside, despite how cold it was last night while gathering the leaves we would need to rest on. And the outside is very peaceful looking. It's a shame to give up on something so peaceful and yet warm and relaxing at the same time, huh?"

"It sure is." I sighed, touching the roof of the small cave just in reach by my reached out paw touching the roof by the tips of my fingers, a smooth and warm feel, hardly rough at the touch. After a closer look, I saw some kind of claw-like marks on the ceiling. Thin markings here and there, not too deep, but just a few. How long these markings had been here I couldn't say, so this cave was at one point used as a home by another Pokemon or perhaps still do use this palce as a home and we just managed to arrive here while they were gone. I just hoped that if Pokemon do still live here they wouldn't mind us being in here, better to leave sooner rather than later if Pokemon did still live in here. I can only imagine what would've happened if the occupants of this cave returned to find us inside their home, despite how we just wanted to stay somewhere for the night. "So how about you, did you sleep well?"

"Slept, but very bizarre dreams to go with it one after the other, nothing that was a vision. Just your usual bizarre dreams jumping to and from scene to colorful scene." She said with short chuckle. "But thanks to this place being comfy as it was, it was a good night." And she ate another berry before brushing herself off, sighing after opening up the bag.

"I wish I could've learnt more about them." She said after a quick glance down at the remaining berries we had left. "Audino was going to teach me how to mix berries to make a stronger effect after I had got the Potions down. I hope they're okay…"

"I'm sure they're fine." I comforted her, placing my arm around her shoulders. "They weren't seen by any of the gang members when they helped us escape. They're staying low, and are already continuing living on in that hideout as normal."

"Do you think, m-maybe after all of this is over, after you regained your memories and return to Nuvema Town, do you think your trainer will help us save Audino, Metagross, and all of the others trapped there in Purrloin's hideout?"

I nodded. "We can't leave them behind. After all they did for us, leaving them wouldn't feel right. Purrloin's way of controlling things… how she treats others it isn't a way for anyone to be treated. That hideout isn't a way for anyone to live." It was a risky thing to do, going back there to save them. I wasn't sure at that time who my trainer was or if I had one, who my friends were or if they would help us. But knowing my friends before the assault on Team Doom, I know they would without a doubt help us to help the others. But after the assault on Team Doom, after ending up washed up on the beach all covered in scars and half blind I did not know what had happened to my friends and Latias, if they were alive or not.

"And I'll be there to help." She said after grabbing her scalchop and held it up. "After I have mastered my own moves I want to be there to help them from Purrloin and her bodyguards."

I chuckled. "Hopefully by then we'll be ready." Holding up my own scalchops with her. We were still in training and our moves were a bit off in a way, but we were getting to that point we'll be ready for a battle. Who knows what sort of dangers wild Pokemon like us were to face out in the open.

* * *

****

**Route 5**

Route five wasn't exactly a long route to walk through from Nimbasa city to Driftveil, it was just an hour long walk and yesterday we had already walked halfway through the route before finding the cave to sleep for the night. Something I had expected would take us longer to reach more than a few hours yet it would take us far less, a relief to walk such a short distance instead of a really long one worrying about running out of supplies especially how fast we were going through them at this rate. The map book didn't say whether or not this route had a river or source of water for Pokemon to drink, only that it had a few berries very close to the main road and the route was very close to the ocean further way closer to Driftveil City. So I guess this place would be a good home for a Pokemon to live if there was a good source of water, maybe there was a source somewhere hidden not too far away from this route. I guess we would just have to find another place to get ourselves some supplies, and hopefully without attracting any unwanted attention.

"Hey Aqua? Have you had any visions recently? Anything that might help?" I asked, gaining curiosity on her unique ability. That ability she had was something we would most definitely need to help us get through the region in order for us to get to Nuvema Town safely. and also I was a little worried about yesterday back in Nimbasa city after stealing all of that food from the marketplace and being seen doing so, that someone may be after us, or if Purrloin's gang if they were still in pursuit of us had heard about us and were coming after us.

Aqua glanced back at me over her shoulder as she walked a little ahead of me, skipping on a fallen dead tree; she shook her head and smiled. "Only by staying off the main path away from the humans while we walk through the forest. My vision showed me we would be fine if we go this way." She breathed in the fresh air as she hopped down off the dead tree. "But I'm glad my vision brought us here, isn't this place so amazing?" I nodded and looked around the area and taking in the sights I had just noticed after several minutes of walking through there; the entire place was mostly green, the large leaves hanging from the many moss covered trees almost completely covering the blue sky, and the vegetation beneath our feet, a somewhat wide and open space, and quiet despite being so close to the main road made this place feel peaceful in a way. "I had only seen places like this in the books we kept in our room and the map book we brought along with us. I guess nothing beats the real thing, huh?"

This place we walked through… it was too quiet and void of any of Pokemon in trees, on the ground nearby, or noises from the humans walking through the road between the two cities near to the other. Wasn't the silence usually a bad thing? A sign that danger was nearby? And yet Aqua still playfully hopped along ahead of me as we walked like everything was still alright. She said so herself that she had no visions alerting her to any danger that would come to us, so maybe we were alright for now.

"Wait…" She suddenly stopped hopping up and down and held out her paw stopping me in my tracks. Her ears perked up darting to and from, towards the left of us were a lot of tall grass was. Still, the place was a little quiet and nothing but the small gust of wind blowing through the trees was all there is. I stood and listened for a minute or so before reaching my arm out to Aqua about to ask if everything was alright, then both me and Aqua heard it; rustling somewhere in the tall grass. Then a click, and then…

"Get 'em, boy!" By a girls voice and out came a Poochyena with its fangs out as it charged right at us with a Tackle hitting Aqua square right in her chest knocking her back. I grabbed my scalchop and ran to Aqua's side to help her up as a human girl probably in her mid teens emerged out of the tall grass to help her Pokemon battle us, most likely to try and catch us and add us to her team. Now there were obviously multiple reasons why we couldn't be captured by this trainer; the first being that we were already on an important journey so I could get back to Nuvema town to remember who I once was, and being captured would probably prevent that if she had no reason to go back to Nuvema town since all trainers in this region including me when I was once human starting off on getting my starter Pokemon and Pokedex, and how would we communicate with her then? The second reason if we were caught by her would be that she would most likely choose us to battle in gyms and different trainers across the region. Now a shiny female Oshawott wouldn't cause a lot of attention, but a white Dewott wearing an eye patch covered in scars head to toe probably would. And third finally as with the other two would attract the attention of not only trainers looking to get a look at the white Dewott, but it may attract the attention of Purrloin and her gang if they were still in pursuit of us. Not only would be risking our lives, but this girl and her Pokemon's lives as well. I didn't want that blood on my paws for the remainder of my life, so escape was the only way for us, or by winning this battle.

"Aqua, you alright?!" I quickly said to her as I helped her up with one paw while keeping my other paw with my scalchop gripped tight getting ready to attack.

"J-just dazed…" she coughed, slightly covering her chest were the attack had hit her. It was a little mark across her chest, nothing too serious I had hoped. Luckily we had a lot of Potions we could use after we get out of this. "W-what are we going to do?"

The girl with neck length black hair wore a bright blue cap backwards with the initials 'C.C.B.T.' short for 'Castelia City Baseball Team' on it, a cap I was familiar with back when I was still a Savior member in Castelia City almost seeing them everywhere I went out on patrol or just chilling with my Pokemon. A baseball team which took me almost four years during my time there to realize there was a baseball team there. I just thought that the city liked the sport since there was that one baseball game that was quite the rave the first of the four years there, something about a team winning, not sure which, and so almost half the population wore the same hats for a while. She wore a long-sleeved green shirt and blue shorts with a Pokeball belt around her hip with only one Pokeball, and worn red sneakers with what appeared to be small bite marks on them. The girl with the tanned skin grinned as she planted both of her hands on her hips and gave her Pokemon the first command as Poochyena stood in front of her, growling at us, eager for the command to be given to attack us.

"Okay Poochyena! Go for it! Let's start off with a Sand Attack!" Poochyena barked once as it nodded its head before twirling around and quickly wagging its tail at the ground sending a small gust of sand directly at us hitting us in both of our faces and mainly our eyes, with us each trying desperately to rub the sand out. "Poochyena, hit 'em with another Tackle, but make sure you don't go full power on this one. Let's see what kind of moves they have first."

The Poochyena used Tackle, charging first at me and then Aqua, an attack both of us easily dodged by simply stepping back or jumping out of the way. It was an attack which was both slow and weak looking that if hit, it would to a small amount of damage, the kind of attack one would use to see how the others would react, so we retaliated by using our own moves as soon as we both dodged the Pokemon's attack. Aqua used Ice Beam at it, and I used Scald, both attacks hit the Poochyena, but it neither froze or burnt the Pokemon. The Ice Beam sent if flying into a bush, while the Scald hurt it and also warming it up from the sudden cold. An attack we thought would be enough to scare the trainer away, but instead our moves only impressed the trainer, impressing her so much that she only wanted us a lot more as her Pokemon.

"Whoa! They got those kinds of moves? Alright then!" She smirked as she glanced down at her Poochyena smiling back at her. "You ready, boy?" The Poochyena barked as it nodded its head.

"Alright Poochyena, go for a Sucker Punch to the Dewott!" She ordered, and the Pokemon once again barked and ran at me, very fast for me to see it run at me before its entire left paw was surrounded by a dark aura as it shot its paw right into me.

When the Sucker Punch had hit me square right in the chest, to a water type it would inflict normal damage… I think? But anyway, to a Psychic, it would inflict a lot. I was half water and half Psychic type, so being hit by one type I was weak to felt like being hit by a truck sending a sharp pain surging throughout my entire body. A familiar pain which I felt during my time recovering at medical when I was still being treated by Purrloin's gang after washing up on the beach with my open wounds from head to toe. I clutched my chest and knelt down gasping for breath.

"Zack!" Aqua gasped, running up in front of me and trying to shield me from whatever the girls Poochyena would throw at us next. Aqua held up her own scalchop and readied herself for the next move. "I got this Zack… I'm going to protect you."

"Finish this Poochyena with a Yawn! We can do this!" She smirked, pointing at Aqua with her finger as Poochyena opened its maw wide and sent a large bubble-like sphere at Aqua hitting her popping immediately upon impact before she could react as she stumbled back a little, almost dropping the scalchop on the ground.

"Z…Zac…k… I… I'm… I'm not giving up…." And then Aqua felt asleep, tumbling back almost hitting the ground, but I stopped the fall by holding her with one arm, and the other with my own scalchop, still weak from the Sucker Punch, and still holding on to my last remaining strength that I could overcome this and find a way for us to get out of this. Then the girls smirked grew wide as she pulled out another Pokeball from her belt, a ball she would use to try and capture one of us. She threw the ball up, but with the last remaining strength I had left, I had used it all to hold Aqua tight and jumped to the side to dodge the Pokeball just at the last second as it bounced onto the ground and rolled into a bush.

"Ah, darn it! That Dewott's still kicking I see. Poochyena, get in close and use Yawn on the Dewott." She ordered the Poochyena at me. Any second now and it would use its Yawn and I'll be affected by it and fall asleep, and then the girl will have both me and Aqua caught by this trainer. With what little time I had left remaining, I lightly shook Aqua in my arms to try and wake her up, but to no avail, she was in deep sleep.

With Poochyena just a few steps away before using its move, I desperately cried feeling my vision fade a little. "Aqua! You got to wake up!" But she didn't.

"What the…?" I heard the girl gasp behind us, but I didn't look back. Either by weakness or assuming she was reacting to something else, my eyes were fixed on Aqua, hoping any second now she would wake and run away to save herself. "Poochyena, wait stop!" I heard the footsteps of Poochyena just behind me coming to a sudden stop. But the girl's voice calling out to me became muffled, and everything went black.

* * *

"Zack, are you alright?" I heard Aqua's voice in the darkness. It had taken me a little while for me to open them. So when I did open my eyes, instead of being inside a Pokeball or whatever it was Pokemon see inside their own Pokeball, I found ourselves resting beside a campfire in the same area where the battle had taken place with the girl. My head was resting on Aqua, using her paws to support my head. It didn't take me long to find the girl and her Poochyena sitting opposite the campfire preparing some food. I sat up and noticed my wounds were healed up already, and Aqua was alright, no injuries from the battle it seemed.

"I healed those wounds of you and your Oshawott friend." I looked up to see the trainer staring at me, the same look she had when she first saw us and tried to capture us, a look of excitement across her bright face. "I didn't capture you or the Oshawott, I only healed you up. That's all."

I looked at Aqua sitting beside me and she nodded her head. "Is this true?" I asked her, but was immediately cut off by the trainer as she almost jumped in her seat to what she had heard.

"I knew I wasn't hearing things, alright! You can definitely speak! I mean, I can understand you!" she exclaimed, a smile wide across her face as she leaned in closer to me. "I-I never knew Pokemon could speak! I only ever heard about it like in stories or some cartoons. But this… T-this is amazing."

I glanced back at Aqua again before turning my head back at the girl. "You can… understand me?"

The girl nodded her head, turning her head towards Aqua. "I can, but it's only you it seems I can understand. Unless she's shy that is."

"Um… I don't know how to speak human, I don't think." Aqua said. Something I could clearly understand as well as the girl's Poochyena sitting beside her, but to the girl she couldn't understand a single word said by Aqua. "Zack, if you were speaking the human language this entire time, how come no one noticed it before?" She asked me that, a question I too was unsure how to answer. And with that, questions on if my 'trainer' knew about this filled my head.

"No I… uh, Aqua is speaking normally. I don't think she can speak the human language." Ever since I met Aqua and the other Pokemon back in Purrloin's hideout, I have only heard the Pokemon speak in their tongue and understood it. I'm not sure why I didn't notice it sooner or why I only heard the Pokemon language instead of hearing the human language whenever other spoke to me to hearing it in crowds.

"So you're a Dewott who can talk? I mean speak the human language, right? But how is that possible? And why are you a white Dewott?" She asked, piling up more questions one after the other. "Were you trained by a person?"

"I'm not sure that myself. Aqua and I want to go to Nuvema Town so I can go to the laboratory. I believe by going there we'll find out who I was; why I was injured all over and why my left eye was cut up like this leaving me blind in one eye. And how I can speak the language of both species. I want to know."

" 'Who'? Wait, are you saying you lost your memory?" She asked. I nodded my head, and then I decided to great myself to her, seeing as I sensed no hostility. I figured we could talk for a while and relax instead of having an awkward talk. Maybe I could learn something useful for our travels.

"My name is Zack. This here is Aqua." I said to the girl, pointing with my paw towards myself and Aqua. "I woke up on a beach at the edge of Castelia City covered in all of these injuries you see. I awoke with no memory of who I was before I ended up washed up. Aqua found me and uh… well, we have been travelling together towards Nuvema Town to find out who I was and if anyone was looking for me, or why I ended up like this." I decided to leave what had happened with us with Purrloin and her gang not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. But a nagging feeling at that moment told me to do so. To ask others to say they haven't seen us should we be chased after by Purrloin and her gang.

"My name is Jessie. And this is Poochyena, my starter and best buddy." She greeted.

"It's nice to meet the both of you." Poochyena greeted, offering me and Aqua a bowl of fresh berries from her supplies to eat. It took us a while before any of us picked up one to eat the Oran and Pecha Berries, but when we did we ate half of the berries in the little bowl… or Aqua did since I wasn't hungry.

"Hey uh, I'm sorry about battling you and Aqua before. I just wanted to catch myself some new Pokemon so I could ya know, win some gym battles, and get myself some badges before facing the elite four. I didn't realize you two were on an important quest." She apologized to us. I wonder what would've happened if she did capture us. Would she still let us both go so we could continue to travel towards Nuvema Town to rediscover who I once was? Yeah, I believe she would have done so; she seemed like that kind of person.

"Hey, you didn't know. We're just happy this whole thing has been settled peacefully." I said. "But in a good way, it was good for us to get a feel on our moves. We just learnt them not too long ago."

"I guess I'll just have to keep on looking then for some other Pokemon I can catch." She laughed.

"Trying to become the next champion?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sort of… or actually I am seeing whether or not I can make it as a gym leader myself in this region or another. I feel I need to show them that I am ready, by challenging the elite four and facing the champion, I believe I can get there if I do it. But first before I even do that I need to find my team, finding the correct balance to make a team for a gym. I hope I can find what I am looking for in the end. I'd hate to do all of this for nothing."

"Isn't Poochyena a Dark type?" Aqua said which I translated back to Jessie. A similar thing Isaac did during our travels as well as Espeon did whenever we had come across a Pokemon wanting to speak with us. "How about you stick with Dark types, you seem to be pretty good at handling those types?"

"Hm, I guess I could do that." Jessie picked up Poochyena and set him onto her lap from which he curled up close to her as he was being stroked behind the ear by her. "Heh, maybe I will. Just gotta balance it out and keep my Pokemon in good shape and form."

"Well, that battle before was a good start. If we only we knew our moves better we'd have put up a better fight."

"You did great, I was surprised I could actually take on two Pokemon at once, and we have only just started on our travels." Poochyena said, all I translated for Jessie to be involved with the conversation. "You two almost had me."

"We did really well for our first battle, huh buddy?" Jessie smiled, and Poochyena agreed with her and jumped up to hug her.

"Yeah! I feel as though we can take on the world."

We didn't sit there long, getting our wounds healed up with a few Potions, bottles which Aqua examined carefully checking for the expiration date and the quality of the bottles, and a few berries each and we were good to go. It would be a long journey for us, one which we couldn't end by staying there any longer, so it was our time to go.

"The suns almost about to set, and it's getting late. We should get going soon." I said before packing a few of our things together before Jessie stopped us.

"Wait! How about you guys come with me? I can take you both to Nuvema Town. I am going to Nimbasa City first, and then Castelia, I can take you both the rest of the way."

I had wanted to keep her out of it, but not telling her about who we were running from could endanger us from them, from Purrloin. If one day perhaps walking around in the streets of another city or walking through a route, she could talk about us, and if Purrloin's gang are out on patrol and they hear about a girl with a white Dewott wearing an eye patch with his shiny female Oshawott companion, they would alert the others and hunt us down, and we wouldn't be safe. I had to tell her about them. The Pokemon we were running from, and so I did.

"Me and Aqua were taken in by a gang in Castelia City. They gave us a place to stay in their hideout, gave us food, medical… but it wasn't exactly a nice place to live." I explained. "That place was cruel, a place run by a female Purrloin who wanted all whoever joined her gang to remain as a member of her gang for the rest of their lives, killing or torturing those who tried to escape." I turned my head to look at Aqua, and she looked at me. "But we escaped. Not too long after we did, I remembered some things about being in that town. So I believe by going there we might find someone who knows me, maybe even my origins. But we have to be careful on doing so; Purrloin has been known for hunting down Pokemon who have joined her gang if they have escaped. We're trying to stay low and out of sight as much as we can. Please Jessie, don't tell anyone about us."

Jessie stared at us for a brief moment, looking down at Poochyena looking up at her before nodding her head. "Alright, I won't say anything, the two of us won't. Our lips are sealed shut." She smiled. "But the way you two are heading it's a long way, it will take you weeks to get there. Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked. I wanted right then and there to say 'I changed my mind, we will go with you.' for how badly I wanted to go to Nuvema Town, but it was all too risky to do so. Sure it would take us a long time to get there by going around the region, but at least we would have a better chance on getting as far as we could from Purrloin and her gang.

"We'll manage, but thanks for offering. I know it'll take us a while to get where we need to go, but it's the only way for us to be safe from the Pokemon that might be after us."

"You two going to be okay travelling that distance?"

Me and Aqua looked at each other with a smile. "As long as we are together, we'll be fine." Aqua said. "We got this far by sticking together, I'm sure we'll manage the rest of the way."

All of us stood up after noticing the sun was about to set, it was time for us to get going. Gathering our supplies together and about to walk

"Hey," I called back to her as we stopped, and she looked back with her Poochyena. "Good luck on your journey, I hope you find what you are looking for."

Jessie and waved back at us with a warm smile "Thank you. Zack, Aqua; have a safe journey. I hope you both make it there in one piece."

Before we left, we stayed for a short while watching as Jessie packed away at her camp she set up. It wasn't much, just a few boxes of food and putting out the fire and she was good to go.

After the camp was put down, it was time for us to go our separate ways; Jessie with going to different gyms and earning badges to face the champion to someday becoming a gym leader or whatever she may find down her own path. And for me and Aqua, Driftveil City would be just right up the road, and then the rest of the Unova region we would walk the remaining way. It would be a long journey, one I wish I could say it would be a simple peaceful journey, without any danger or fear of Purrloin and her gang in pursuit of us, but soon we would realize not just Purrloin and her gang still be chasing us, but another enemy, a new enemy and yet an old one.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter was originally another nightmare chapter with Zack dreaming of his past life and trying to remember so many things about his life before Aqua found him.


	19. Chapter 19 A Friend within a Dream

**AN: So here's chapter 19 for ya'll. Might be a little slow on the updates but I'll see what I can do in the meantime. Keep on keeping on guys and uh hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 19 - A Friend within a Dream

* * *

****

**An Abandoned Village Just outside of Driftveil**

During our walk through the route which would lead us directly to Driftveil City, we stumbled across an abandoned village, a twenty minute walk away from the city. It was a rather small village with three or four houses, a small store, and pharmacy, a small village all wrapped around by an old black and yellow tape tied to the trees with a torn sign which read; 'Danger do no enter!' something which was obviously ignored due to how much trash, old tents and old campfires were left lying around here and there. Almost every window of each building were smashed, walls covered in graffiti, and rusty cars piled up to the edge of the village each scrapped for parts or burnt for the campfire.

"I wonder what happened here." Aqua said, crawling underneath the black and yellow tape as we walked further into the village. This decrepit village we had to be careful to navigate through because of the broken glass left around here and there, we found papers, newspapers left lying around surprisingly in good conditions, readable but good enough to try and get a clear picture on what exactly happened to this village. Inside one of the houses we entered, a very dusty and a littered place with upturned and broken furniture, Aqua found a note on a coffee table and picked it up and read. "'Attention resident(s), due to a dangerous and hazardous material being present within the village, you have been given a 24 hour warning to evacuate your homes and the village before March 3rd 9AM were soldiers will do a sweep of the village before beginning the cleanup. If you remain within the village be it either refusal to leave or in the process of leaving still, you will be forcefully removed or prosecuted based on the situation.'" She placed the note back on the table and looked at me. "They were given a warning to evacuate their homes and this village because of something dangerous being here. I guess things didn't return to normal after. And so this place was left for anyone to come in and do with it however they please."

"I wonder what happened here. What this dangerous thing was that had to have all of these people leave their homes?" We walked further inside the house towards the kitchen to find another note attached to the fridge by a magnet left behind by either the home owner or someone else. 

_'I can't believe we have to abandon our homes by these Savior scum al because of a so-called 'dangerous being' seen within our village. Hah! There ain't a dangerous being in this village. This village is as a safe as safe can get. We hardly get any visitors here who cause us a bad time. There ain't anything much out here. No cash, no jewellery stores for anyone to rob and get big, not even a legendary or legendary shrine to attract a few colorful Teams showing up and making a scene. They want me to evacuate this village? Well, I am going to show 'em a piece of my mind come tomorrow!'_

On one of the counters, Aqua found a newspaper with the headline reading 'Beast Sighted Within Village Not Pokemon!' each of us grabbed a side each of the paper and read.

_'A humanoid taking the forms of both human and Pokemon creating a hybrid monster known partially throughout the region as The Reanimated Corpses that spread havoc throughout the region created by the shut down terrorist team known as Team Annihilation was found within a small village near to Driftveil City. The villagers were all told to evacuate their homes while the cleanup team were sent to investigate and take down the last remaining stragglers that escaped when the last of the Reanimated Corpses were burnt to death during the fall of Team Annihilation. It is unknown when the cleanup will end or if the villagers will return to their homes. But we….'_ The last section of the paper was unreadable due to the remaining text being stained by some dried up blue fluid. 

"A Reanimated Corpse…" Aqua whispered, almost letting go of her side of the paper. "I know them. They were the things that attacked the city when I was younger. I didn't realize they affected other people across the region." She let go of her side of the paper leaving me carrying the rest with my other paw. Aqua walked up to a dining table with four chairs set at the table with other newspapers set with different articles about this village and Team Annihilation. Some talking about how horrifying Team Annihilation were when reviving the dead by using fresh corpses collected from morgues all over the region, that those remaining from Tem Annihilation were to be punished. And some papers blaming the creation of the Reanimated Corpses on The Savior's for just being there because without The Savior's, Team Annihilation would never have created the Reanimated Corpses to be used as an army… yeah, because that makes sense, blaming others for what another team did…

"I remember you talking about that day with the others." I said, setting the newspaper back on the table before approaching her as she came to a stop beside a cabinet full of smashed photo frames of the people who used to live in the house we were in, probably. Carefully, she picked up the photo of the family; an elderly man and woman smiling facing towards the camera while sitting under a parasol beside a beach. They seemed pretty happy.

"I was lucky to escape them when I did. Those things gave me nightmares for a while. But if it weren't for my mom, my dad… if they weren't there when I needed them, I would be alone." She placed the photo back on the shelf. "I don't know where I would be if not for them. I hope I made them proud of me. I wish I could hear their voices again instead of being left in the dark. When the sickness came, they didn't say much. Lack of appetite, their strength drained… I didn't tell them that I loved them… I only just begged for them not to leave me, waiting day after day if they would be healed and everything would be back to normal. My mom was the last to live, telling me to leave the place and find someplace better… then before I could say anything to her, she died. I wanted to tell her so much. I wish I could've said something…"

"They knew you loved them. And they loved you. They would've been happy knowing that you would be safe." She took my paw with hers as I tried to comfort her. Aqua nodded her head and looked up to me, a tear in her eye.

"I know… I'm sorry for that. It's just seeing that newspaper article about the monsters, it made me remember about my parents… s-sorry for that, crying like I am right now." She laughed while whipping away at her tears.

I smiled, glancing back at the window to see the sun had almost set. "It will be getting dark soon. We should find ourselves a place for the night."

Aqua again nodded her head. But with her paw still clutched tight in mine she dragged me through the kitchen until we reached the doorway of the entrance to the house. "How about we stay here? It has already got a clean bed we can use upstairs in one of the bedrooms. No one will come here tonight or very early in the morning, so we can relax." 

The bedroom upstairs was unlike the rest of the destroyed downstairs or like outside in the village littered with trash and took over by nature. In here it was as if no one had walked in here ever since the villagers were kicked out. A blue carpeted floor covered the wooden floor beneath. The large bed with its white bed sheets and pillows at the back of the room, and on the left side of the bed was a very large Spinarak web… yeah; I wonder which one of us will be going near that side… it was me. Well anyway, on the right side was a large oak dresser with the remains taken by the residents, or maybe thieves. At the head of the bed was a large window with see through curtains covered in almost completely in dust

"You saw this in a vision?" I asked, unsure how to feel about this place, almost turned off on the thought of sleeping in this room with how huge the Spinarak web was and how close it was to the bed. This bedroom didn't look clean at all.

"Yep. Just sprung up on me; a nice bed both of us would find very nice to sleep in after cleaning it up first; dust and to check whether or not the room was Spinarak-free which thankfully it was because that's all we needed, to be ambushed by Pokemon living here when we were already tired. After running into the trainer earlier today and walking this far from Nimbasa, we needed the rest, so it shouldn't' take us long." 

And it didn't... well it felt as though it had taken an hour to do so when in reality it had taken four to clean the bed up and make sure the Spinarak web wasn't touching the bed in any way or not wanting to disturb the Spinarak's if there were any nearby. Aqua said we would be safe here; the night and in morning. Yep, it took us a while but we managed to clear up the bedroom and the bed for me and Aqua to sleep in for the night and Driftveil City would be just a short walk away to gather our supplies in and we would continue on from there.

With everything all set, we sat on the bed eating our food before going to sleep that night, talking about our plan with the only light source was a small amount of the moons light giving us a little amount of light in the room.

Before I slept, I felt uneasy ever since we left the hideout together, anxious that Purrloin and her gang were close by still looking for us. Our moves still needed to be practiced with, we wouldn't stand a chance if they were to attack us.

"_Maybe sometime after we were done in Driftveil City Aqua and I could practice our moves together."_ I thought to myself while shifting my eyes to look at the other parts of the darkened room. _"Yeah. After we leave Driftveil I think we will do just that. The road to Unova will not be kind to us. We may run into another trainer trying to capture us, or Purrloin and her gang. We have to be ready for anything."_

* * *

****

**Dream**

In the dream, I was walking alongside a beach I wasn't familiar with. The sky was completely black, no stars, cloud, or even the moon to help light the way, yet for some reason I could still see. Looking around starting from the ocean on the left side of me was an endless still ocean almost as if it were frozen in time. To the right side of me was an endless grassy field. In the dream I walked alongside the beach wanting to know where this dream would take me. I was in control of the dream, which I could tell, so maybe it was a lucid dream.

"Hm… so how does this work?" I asked myself as I walked further up the beach. "Do I just try to imagine something to happen? Do I say something?" I tried to come up with something quick to randomly show up out of nowhere so that I could try and do something with this dream, like have some fun at least rather than walk up a very quiet and boring dark world. Having some dream food could be fun, flying high above the cloud may be exciting if I can change this dark sky above to a bright and sunny day, maybe go on an adventure in a dark castle… I don't know. But try as I might I could never get anything to appear within the dream. "Lucid dreaming sure is tough… eh, I guess it was interesting that I could get the chance to experience-" I stopped when I saw something new, something different rather than the ocean, sand, or grass in the dream I had walked passed for what seemed like hours; it was small glass dining table with several books set out on top.

I walked closer to the table to examine the books picking up the first in reach. The cover of the book didn't have any title or words on it; it was just a large and quiet heavy green book. Inside on the very first page I noticed there was a sentence written inside;

_'Welcome to The Savior's potential new recruit. Here at The Savior's you will join the ranks of a Savior member, to go out on missions to help others from great threats, to fight against those who seek out chaos and commit evil deeds to the people and Pokemon. But at first it won't be the home region you'll get to venture out and do good deeds, it'll be across the seas to different lands to help others. A member of the Savior's is there to bring about hope in this world to people and Pokemon young and old when no one else can. As you move up in the ranks, the more you can do. The more you can see, the more you can help.'_

_'So are you up for it?'_

_'Join today and become a hero to the people and Pokemon who need your help.'_

_'Apply Online at .Application'_

"The Savior's… is that where my trainer and I used to work at?" I read the page again, hoping that it would somehow spark a lost memory to come back to me, but nothing did happen. The words I read was the same exact words from the opening from The Savior's recruitment flyer I received from the library in town when I was first interested on joining them. Applying was easy, and yet it took a long time for me to get any response from them. I wanted to join The Savior's so I could become a better person. And also in some childish sort of way, I guess I wanted to become a hero before I made it to rank 01, the highest rank a Savior could become. I wanted when I was that rank or when I get there; I would settle down and start a family or something.

I turned the page and began to read.

_"What is the most horrific thing you can imagine happen to you, Zack? What do you dread will happen to those you love? Whatever comes up inside that head of yours, I shall make it much worse than you can. Watch as I hurt those you love!"_

_"What's this about?" I said to myself, unsure what this page was about. Before I lost my memory, these were the words spoken by Shiny Latias before I ended up in the water, before I was found by Aqua._

Then I turned to the third page of the book and read that. It had more words than the previous two entries;

_To do list:_

_'Make a 'Latias Cake' for her birthday tomorrow'_

_'Clean room before mom gets home'_

_'Fix computer keyboard'_

_'Search the laboratory for the 'First Edition Castelia City Dictionary' for Gardevoir with the others this afternoon'_

"Zackary?" This was all I read from the page before hearing a voice behind me, a voice deep down I knew, a female that had been with me for a long time before my memory was wiped clean… Espeon. 

Standing behind me was Espeon, her fur soaked with what appeared to be water, blood running down her hind legs from open wounds; it appeared she had been in some kind of battle recently. "Zackary, I finally found you after all this time. Well, it has been a couple of months already, but it's good to see that you are still alive and kicking it."

My dream self stood there and stared at Espeon with confusion, asking myself questions as to who this Espeon was and how did she know my name. I didn't know her; I had no memory of ever knowing this Espeon. And then another question came to mind 'If she knows my name, do I know her? Is she someone important to me?'

"W-who are you?" I asked, almost like a whisper for how quiet my voice was, perhaps anxious about this situation. But anyway, she heard me clearly, but instead of answering immediately, her ears drooped and she gasped.

"Wha-? Y-you don't know who I am? But how can that… Did you lose your memory?" All I did was nod to her question. "That bitch caused you to lose your memory, did she? Oh wait! You lost your memory, of course you don't know… she must've used her ability to control you and cause you to enter the dark place." She gasped again after noticing all of my scars and eye patch. "Jeez, look at what the bitch did to you… I'm glad I messed her face up when I saw her throw you off the rooftop."

"What are you talking about? How was it I lost my memory? And who are you?"

"My name is Espeon; I am an Espeon if it weren't all that obvious." She stepped forward. "We have been friends for a long time, the best of friends who have done so much together, travelled from region to region helping others. You and I were in a battle against a powerful enemy, an enemy who is still out there, alive with a badly scarred face all thanks to yours truly." She smirked as she examined her claws. "I don't know how long I can communicate with you like this, seeing as dreams are a tricky thing to navigate through, especially if one were elsewhere across the region."

"All of us thought you were dead at first, there was no body or remains, just blood everywhere. Then after we got back, those who escaped heard about how the bitch was 'searching' for someone. She never said who it was, but I had my suspicions it was you who she was looking for, you were still alive. And despite how little rest I have had I spent hours upon hours using my own psychic to try and track you down, and I have." She sighed. "All I had to do was search areas where Team Doom's base was and the surrounding areas. And then I noticed there was a big river leading from the base all the way down to the ocean near Castelia City, so I tried there next. No results, so I had to move away from the city, and so I have found you. a signal, a light in the dark. Not sure where I am going with that description, but I guess it'll do for now." 

Espeon stepped closer standing merely inches apart from one another, but try as either one of us could, our bodies would just phase right through the other like ghosts. "Zackary, I want to tell you more about yourself, but doing this requires a lot of energy on my part. After the battle, I lost a lot of energy and HP if you want to see this as living in a video game world, something I do most of the time." She chuckled. "So I can't stay in contact with you for too long or as frequent as I would have liked. I need to rest for what is about to come." Thunder rumbled in the dark clouds above startling the both of us. "Zackary, where are you? Are you alright?" 

"Just outside Driftveil City. Me and a friend I made when I woke up with no memory is helping me along the way. We're heading to Nuvema Town. I believe it was a place I am familiar with." I wanted to tell her more, about Purrloin and her gang that may be after us, but she overtook me, desperate to tell me all she could for her time was limited.

"Then you are heading in the right place. Go there, it's where I am at the moment with a few others… those that made it back that is…" She hung her head low. _'those that made it back' _to me when hearing those words I didn't think much on them, but if I knew what she meant, I would've asked questions; who made it back, what had happened.

I tried to reach out to her, almost forgetting about how I couldn't touch her, then she looked up at me, desperately saying. "But be cautious Zackary, the bitch is after you. The bitch with her new army is searching all over Unova for you. If she catches you… we're all doomed. Not just your family and our friends, but everyone in this region and perhaps the world if she gets a hold of you. Controls you to do her bidding. An ability that has already took control of one of our friends…" Her ears drooped.

"Who is searching for me?" I asked, just slightly unaware the dream was going dark.

"Shiny-" The last word I heard before the dream ended. She had tried to say them as quick as she could, but it was all too late. I wondered what would've happened if she did say 'Shiny Latias' to me if she had enough time. Would I have remembered a lot of what happened to me? My memories pouring in and the true me would return like that? Then again, how come when Espeon spoke to me, seeing her face, her tone of voice, how come I didn't remember any of that? Remembering the most important things will take a lot more time than that I guess. But it was nice to see her face again, to hear her voice. 

* * *

I woke up to the suns light shinning down on my face through the window. A new day for the both of us, one which by the end of the day we would find a place to hold up in Driftveil City whilst gathering for supplies to begin the journey up north to the next city Mistralton, a walk which would last almost half a day.

I thought about the dream I had, seeing Espeon and talking with her.

The warning she gave me about someone named 'Shiny' was after me with her new army. If I was ever captured by them, whoever they were, it would apparently be a bad thing for everyone, friends and family, something I was happy knowing I still had waiting for me back home and that Nuvema Town was truly a place of importance, a place others were waiting for my return. Whoever this new enemy was, I felt a little shiver at the thought on what or who this enemy is, human or Pokemon, perhaps both all searching for me made me rethink on how to travel throughout the region; avoid confrontation with everyone as best as we could to ensure a safe travel. We originally would've gone through each town/city, each route and cave we passed through without causing too much of a scene. We would be in and out as if we were never there while being on the lookout for any of Purrloin's gang members that have travelled this far already looking for us instead of worrying about a new enemy, a face we didn't know or how many were at 'Shiny's' disposal and where they were waiting for us.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Espeon's appearance in the dream sequence of the chapter wasn't originally planned; in fact I actually wanted to keep Zack's friends and family's fate ambiguous until the end of the story. But with Shiny Latias appearing earlier and how she would have her soldiers hunt all over the region for Zack I decided that Zack would be warned by 'someone' I hadn't planned yet so Zack and Aqua wouldn't be ambushed by them and outmatched. I figured the best bet would be Espeon since she and Zack had trained using their Psychic type moves for a week and had a strong connection with the other.


	20. Chapter 20 Medic Oshawott

Chapter 20 – Medic Oshawott

* * *

**A Dream - Aqua's POV**

It was a dream, a nightmare that I was back in the city, in the alley I once called home. The dream started off like any other dream; random events, Pokemon you've met, some you haven't all with their own bizarre randomness, scenes shifting to and from location. It was a normal dream, but then the nightmare started about… twenty five percent into the dream I'd say. The alley was like how I remembered it. An 'I' shape were all of us used to live before the sickness came and killed everyone else but me. I was running through the alley in search of someone. I wasn't sure who it was I searching for at first, but when I turned the left corner at the bottom of alley, within a large cardboard box turned on its side was my old home, where my parents were in lying on their backs.

"Mom! Dad!" I cried, running as fast as my little legs could take me desperate to see them again. But when I finally got there, before I could say anything to them, they looked at me, held out their paws and asked me with raspy voices

"Why didn't you save us?" I gasped and backed up away from the box when they suddenly turned onto their stomachs and crawled towards me, again asking why I couldn't save them.

"Mo-mom, dad, I- w-what do you mean?" I backed up as much as I could before bumping into what I first assumed was a wall for how far back I stepped… a very squishy wall. When I turned, I saw other Pokemon from the alley i grew up with. Friends and their families looking so pale, so sick as they stumbled towards me.

"You have an ability… you knew about this sickness… you should've used it to save us! Why didn't you!?" Cried a female Mienshao, the mother of Meinfoo and one of my best friends growing up there. But Meinfoo wasn't anywhere to be seen, as well as my other friends and young Pokemon, only the older Pokemon.

"I- I didn't know…" I tried to escape their circle, but they blocked all possible ways I could escape. So instead I was just trapped in their circle.

"I could've lived!" Shouted another voice from the circle. With a quick look, I saw it was a male adult Lucario I once knew standing next to his mate; a Linoone.

"Stop it! Stop it please!" I begged them to stop, but they still continued. It wasn't my fault. When I was young when I first had these visions, I was afraid of them, unsure how to handle it. Whether or not I should stay silent about it or to tell anyone, afraid I would be seen as a freak to them for what I could do, I didn't ask for this.

"Why did we have to die!?" I desperately covered my ears, not wanting to listen anymore and ran at some Pokemon forming the circle and pushed with all of my might passed them, running as far as I could. Out of the alley and into the street, somewhere I thought to be safe, a place better than there with the Pokemon I once knew still hearing their pleas and cries echo throughout the alley for me to save them, t comfort them, I thought running away from them and into the city streets would be better. Or so I thought…

Running as far as I could away from them, away from my parents I was finally out on the main streets of the city, oddly enough to find myself just right outside The Savior's building when in fact my alley is further northeast of the city.

"I have found you!" Laughed a familiar voice, one I dreaded and wished I wouldn't hear her voice and look into her cold evil eyes; Purrloin. She was walking up to me slowly while preparing a Shadow Claw in her left paw. "If it weren't for you being there, me and Zack would've had a wonderful life ruling the hideout together. You could've lived happily, a nice home for you to live in while you worked with that old Audino. Maybe one day you could've found someone you loved and they loved you, raise a family. But you couldn't even do that, could you? "I tried backing up, but for some reason I stumbled back onto the street feeling my legs give out. Try as I could, they wouldn't budge. Purrloin chuckled. "You had to steal him from me; my mate… oh, why did you do that? I had never done anything bad to you."

"You used me as your shield when those other Pokemon from the city attacked you." I protested, Purrloin coming to a stop just a few short steps away from me. "And when I accidentally knocked into you at the hideout I tried to apologize, but you went all psycho on me and tried to kill me with a hammer! What kind of Pokemon does that!?"

She smirked. "I'm a psycho, huh? Heh, I have been called many things in my lifetime, but I won't bore you on reading from the list on what they have said to me, for it would take so long to read from." Purrloin stopped using her Shadow Claw and knelt down and crawled over to me until eventually she was on top of me, pinning me down with her claws. There was no strength in me to get her off or fight back, all I could do was whimper. "Do you think you can run from me and my gang all your life? Do you think I will just give up after a month? After a year? If you recall from what the other Pokemon from my gang said about what would happen if one should escape from this place; 'we will hunt you down and bring you back to face punishment.' Did you ever think they were joking about that? That they weren't serious and you just misunderstood?" Purrloin leaned in to my left ear and whispered. "Will that ability of yours protect you? Or will it finally lead you and my precious Zack right back to me into my arms? Will it be better for you to just end this? Put an end to the tiring and cold nights of endlessly running away, stealing for food day and night, and risking your lives all the way to Nuvema Town when in truth Zack might not be from? Where will you two go if Zack cannot remember who he is?" She lifted away from my ear and stared directly in my eyes. "Try as you may, Aqua, hide wherever you want to, me and my gang will search this region for you, never stopping until I have him back where he belongs. And you Aqua, I will personally see to it that you survive the torture I have in mind for you; I will make you regret everything, every mistake you've made, taking Zack away from me, even your existence, I will make you regret it all!"

"G-get off me!" I struggled to free myself from her grip, but this dream was preventing me from finally breaking free and escape. "Y-you don't scare me!"

"Oh, but you are afraid of me." She chuckled. "Every time I pin you to a corner, to a wall, even on the ground, you shiver in fear like the little coward you are. You have always been a scared little Oshawott." She started to laugh, raising her left paw with her Shadow Claw pressed against my neck.

But before she stabbed me with that move the scene immediately shifted to somewhere else, away from the alley to a forest in the dark. Inside a hollow tree was a Dewott shivering and sweating all over. Upon closer inspection, I could see this Dewott was Zack while being wrapped up in a blanket. "Hey, Zack!" I reached out to him, but my paw phased right through him as if he wasn't there.

'Poisoned' a thought came to mind for some reason. The images flashed before me; it was me going into the Pokemon Center of Driftveil City. Inside the center, it was dark but I had found a bottle of Antidote. Then suddenly the door of the room I was in opened up. 'Danger' was another thought that came when I saw a human walk inside the room I was in. I couldn't see his face; all I saw was a silhouette of someone enter the room holding something in his right hand. He stood at the doorway and looked to his left searching the other area of the room for a while before turning, looking down at me, lighting a flashlight on me, and then reaching out with his other hand to grab me muttering something I couldn't understand.

* * *

**Unnamed Village - Bedroom**

Waking up with a jolt I sat up to find myself back in the bedroom with Zack already awake and getting our supplies ready for the walk. "Whoa hey, you startled there, you ok?" Zack asked as he sat back down on the bed next to me.

"I'm uh… trying to uh… " I replied rather groggily, trying to shake it out of me before finishing up on what I was trying to say to him. "I mean; I just had a nightmare. I'm alright, nothing to worry about this Oshawott right here." I joked, hoping he wouldn't press anymore about the nightmare. I just didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Well anyway, I was just about to wake you up." He smiled. "I been awake for an hour already and did some scouting around the village before. And just like the vision showed you, we would have no problem here." He then handed me a box of Oran berries, our last few before we had nothing again. It was a good thing Driftveil was so close to here. A quick supply run and out of the city and we'll be having lunch in no time.

"Thanks Zack." I took the box and grabbed one of the berries, starring at it for a while as the nightmare from last night suddenly came to mind, first starting off with seeing the faces of my parents, their pleas for help, and then with Purrloin pinning me to the ground, calling me weak, and what she would do if they caught us, brought us back, it sounded exactly what Purrloin would do, and that frightened me. But then the last part of the nightmare, showing Zack being poisoned, and I trying to find him some antidote at a Pokemon center, I began to wonder what that was about.

"I think by judging from how dark the clouds are now that'll rain sometime soon." Zack said after swallowing one of the berries. "If it is going to rain later today, we'll have to be quick in Driftveil. We have to get in and out while searching for some food, and then after that we get as far as we can and find a place to stay."

"I hope if there is rain today that it doesn't last for a short time. I really like the rain." I sighed, remembering my time when it rained in the city I used to play in it. Being a water type, rain dropping from the sky and allowing it to soak my fur gave me energy, made me feel alive, it was great. "Depending on how long it takes for us to find the things we need in the city and how long it takes for us to find a place to stay, we could lose a good amount of energy. So why not enjoy the rain for a while? Since we are water types, the rain will revitalize us."

"Huh, I didn't know rain did that to water types." He paused briefly, and then nodded his head slowly. "That sounds great. Now I am hoping it will rain today."

After retying my pink ribbon just above my left ear, I noticed Zack open up the bag once more to set the empty boxes inside beside the medical items. The dream I had when Zack was poisoned had me wondering whether or not the dream or at least the end of it was a vision to come if I didn't warn him. I wanted to look inside the bag and check if we did have any antidotes. "Wait!" I said before crawling up beside Zack and getting a look inside the bag.

"What is it? We have everything packed up."

The Potions and Revives were still the same amount when we left Purrloin's hideout, bandages, but for the Antidotes… we had two bottles. I thought we had more than that. But whatever, I was relieved we still had some and we would be alright. It was only a dream so there was nothing to worry about…

"It's alright." I smiled. "Just double checking to make sure you did pack everything." The bottles were all in good condition from the quick inspection I did, so we were good to go. Closing the bag over and giving it a little pat, I hoped off the bed and walked towards the open door waiting for Zack so we can leave together. "Let's get going, Zack!"

* * *

**Route 5**

Driftveil Drawbridge was just up ahead, a five minute walk through the last part of Route 5 and another five minutes to reach the other side and beyond that Driftveil city. The problem about walking over the bridge was the amount of people we had to pass without any of them trying to catch us. No other way to the city otherwise. Sure there was water underneath and we could swim across, if I knew how to swim that is and I'm not sure if Zack could swim. The bag wasn't water proof and it would all get wet if we tried swimming across. I guess it was back to blending in the crowd as much as we could by sticking to someone close pretending to be their Pokemon. Walking through the trees of the route and sticking close by to the road searching for any people walking towards the bridge, people we thought looked safe. I guess 'safe' as in looks and if they have Pokemon of their own.

Coming to a stop behind a bush near the main road, we looked at each person walking towards the drawbridge. "Hmm… mostly trainers from the looks of it." Zack pointed out the belts they were wearing all with Pokeballs attached. "We should stick to someone who doesn't have a pokemon with them. Maybe a busy person wearing a suit, or maybe an elderly person might help."

"I hope during the walk over the bridge the person we are with are not there to meet someone and walk all the way back. Then we would be in trouble leaving us out in the open for all of the trainers to notice us out there and alone. I wish my vision helped me out with these kinds of things." I moved the bush slightly to get a look out into the main road for people we could walk with.

"Yo!" A Beedrill emerged from a nearby tree and up close to us with an angry glare on his face. "Yo dudes! This here is my crib, ya dig?! So bounce, unless ya'll shall feel the deadly sting of my stinger! And trust me on this, it'll mess ya both up really bad, like ya know, as in it'll kill ya!" The way he talked was weird. I had never heard any Pokemon talk like that before.

"We're just waiting until we see a human on the main road walk towards the drawbridge. We won't stay here long." Zack explained to him, casually returning to look at the road for any people we could walk with. But the Beedrill's red eyes narrowed and flew near us, his face inches away from Zack's.

"Listen to me hombre! You think you can just step into my crib like ya'll own the place?" he shook his head. "No way dudes, no way I'm I gonna let you and your girl steal my crib for your own! I know your game; you're just trying to take other Pokemon's homes, 'eh? That ain't gonna fly with me!"

Zack covered his stomach, it all happened fast. The Beedrill had stung him with his stinger below his ribcage stabbing him deep enough for him to be poisoned. Zack retaliated and struck him with scald, shooting it at his wings before pushing me back and backing away from him.

The Beedrill screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, rolling around in the grass to get the scald off. "Ah! Totally not cool! You'll pay for that!" He stumbled up off the ground, walking towards us in a fit of rage… slowly and yet like a puppet trying to walk if that helps with the visualization of how he walked. With his wings temporarily unusable because of the scald, he had to stick to the ground using his legs, something which made him slower to move. So he should be easy to deal with, right?

"Drill Run!" He shouted as he charged right at Zack all of sudden, with its two stinger arms held out in front of him, his feet lifted off the ground as his body spun around very fast moving faster at Zack, charging right into his chest sending him slamming into a tree with a hard slam, followed by a crunching noise.

"Zack!" I cried. But I couldn't go back to check up on him yet, I had to deal with the Beedrill first. The Beedrill slowly stopped using Drill Run and came to a stop at his feet, dizzy from the attack he used. It bought me time to act, and so I used it without hesitation. Remembering how to use it, I summoned up my energy and used Ice Beam on Beedrill, watching as the ice froze first around his feet, the moving up all the way to his body, his wings, and his head until he was completely frozen over. Grabbing my scalchop and using Razor Shell, I ran up and charged right at him and attacked, the impact exploding and sending the Beedrill flying upwards.

"Totally outrageous dudes!" The Beedrill screamed as he was sent flying first above the trees and somewhere off far in the distance. Good riddance.

"Zack!" I ran over to Zack, he was still leaning against the tree. He was still alive, groaning from the poison, or the impact, or perhaps both. We already had everything we needed; potions and Antidotes. But when I opened the bag he was carrying, my eyes widened as to what I had seen. "The potions… our restoratives are destroyed!" Every bottle, every potion and antidote was smashed except for the remaining revives we had left. Its liquids soaked the bottom of the bag and several bandages. Zack began shivering as the poison began to worsen. If the books I read in Audino's medical room were true, then Zack would have a few hours before the poison kills him.

I didn't know what to do; I couldn't leave him like this. But then after looking past the tree, I saw it. A hollow tree with a small enough hole for the both of us to fit inside… it was the same tree I saw in the dream… the vision. I saw a vision of Zack poisoned. And me in a Pokemon center in Driftveil searching for antidote.

After helping Zack inside the tree and wiping the sweat off his forehead with one of the dry bandages, keeping him hydrated with the water we had left and some Oran berries to keep up his strength, but it wouldn't be enough to get rid of the ailment. The vision showed me going inside a Pokemon center in the city, I found antidote there, but there was this man there, and I sensed danger from him. I shook my head; I didn't want to go there. But I had to; I couldn't leave Zack here to die. I would have to cross the bridge alone, get to the Pokemon center wherever it may be, and get the antidote while evading that scary man I saw in the vision.

"Aqua…" Zack said weakly, struggling to open his eyes. "I feel… numb in my legs… I feel nauseous… it's so hot…" I dampened the bandages with the water and wiped his forehead to soothe him, giving him some more water to drink.

I held his paw with mine. "Zack, I'm sorry. In my dream I saw this happen believing it be just only a dream…" I teared up. "I didn't know it was a vision, Zack. I'm sorry…" I was finding it hard to speak because of the lump I felt in the back of my throat growing bigger. Zack placed his paw on my shoulder and looked at me.

"Don't be…" Was all he could say before his arm fell and his eyes closed, he fell unconscious. After one more check I stood up and wiped away my tears. Time was running short; I had to get the antidote as quick as I could.

"Please Zack, stay strong. I'm going to get you some antidote…" I said before leaving the hollow tree, stepping out and towards the main road of route 5.

* * *

I stayed hidden behind a sign at the edge of the road waiting for a human I could walk with towards the city; it was tough to search for anyone amongst the crowd, fearing I would encounter a trainer with their Pokemon trying to catch me. I was worried if I screwed up and got caught, Zack would die. But then I realized something about all of this; in my vision I did make it to Driftveil city and made it inside the Pokemon center. Well it never actually showed me how I did it, so I do make it to the city somehow. I wished these visions gave more to me, so I went back with the original plan on walking beside someone across the bridge to the city. I was scared to do so, frightened without Zack with me, but I had to be strong for him. I didn't want to let him down.

Without realizing it until it was too late, I felt something wrap around my stomach and lifted me up into the air. I was being carried by a human girl, who squealed excitedly as she held me close to her body. "Wowie, an Oshawott!" She giggled, taking me away from the sign I was hiding behind and towards the bridge.

"No." I gasped, wiggling in any way I could finally break free from the girls grip, but her grip was too strong for me to escape. I didn't want to be caught. "Zack…" Zack needed an antidote, I couldn't just accept this and give up, and I needed to escape, but how? I didn't want to hurt the girl. So attacking her was out of the question. She was however walking across the bridge I wanted to cross, so it was working out for me. Maybe wherever she was taking me, after she set me down or something I could make my escape then.

When she made it across, a woman wearing a white shirt and black skirt was standing to the side at the end of the bridge waving to the girl, the girl giggled as she quickly ran as fast as her legs could take her to the woman, I'm guessing was her mother. "Look at what I found!" She giggled once more as she held me up, showing me to the woman as she knelt down and lightly stroked my head. "Can we keep it? Please? I know I'm not of age yet, but I promise I'll look after it every day. So please, can I, can I, can I, can I?" she pleaded in a high pitch voice, desperate for her mother to say yes. The woman shook her head.

"I'm sorry dear, but we can't right now. And also, it may already have a trainer." She said to her daughter, as she groaned in disappointment.

"But mommy… I promise I _will _look after it. I'll feed it, wash it, and love it twenty-four hours a day seven days a week of non-stop work! Please! Please! Please!"

"_Maybe I could convince them that I did have a trainer. Yes, then they'll have to let me go."_ Was what I thinking, quick on figuring a way out of this little girls grip and hurry to the Pokemon center. So immediately half forgetting they couldn't understand me, I said; "Yes, I have a trainer I need to get back to. Please let me go. Please!"

"Do you already have a trainer?" The woman asked me, I quickly nodded and once again the woman stroked my head and looked at her daughter. "Let it down sweetie, we have to get going. Your father will be finishing up work soon at the café. C'mon, let's go and meet him outside. We'll get some lunch."

"But… I want one." The girl argued, stamping her foot down on the hard floor. Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, and spoke softly.

"I know you want a Pokemon, but you will once you are of age. This Pokemon already belongs to a trainer. Don't you think its trainer is looking for it, worried about it?"

"Alright… I'll put it down." The girl finally said after a moment pause. The girl leaned forward and placed me down gently. I turned around to face her, and she shyly looked at me twirling her finger in her blonde hair as she apologized. "I'm sorry for grabbing you like that."

"It's fine. But hey, I made it across the bridge thanks to you." I said to the girl with a smile, forgetting about our language barrier as I spoke to her. The girl smiled and waved at me as she and her mother walked away hand in hand.

Now that crossing the bridge had been already taken care of, the next thing I had to worry about was what lies within the Pokemon center of this city; the shadowed man I saw. So without wasting another minute, I ran as fast as I could in hopes I could find the center, wherever it may be in the city. I started going west from the bridge, passing many tall buildings as swift as I could be without being seen too much by the people walking on the street, not wanting to gain any attention that'll draw a trainer or twos attention. I didn't find the center this way so I headed north next, planning to search around the edge of the city starting from the west, north, west, and south until I found the place. I found the center ten minutes when I headed to the northern section of the city on the main road near the city gym. It was a large rectangular building surrounded by grass with a stone path leading to the main door of the building. But after running up to the door I saw the sign;

'**Closed, come back tomorrow.'**

I ran to the side of the building hoping I could find a side door I could open up or find an unlocked window to climb in to at least. Luckily the door I found, the only door apart from the main doors at the front this door was at the back away from the main streets, so I could just go inside this way without attracting any unwanted attention, but of course the door was locked tight, so I had to find an alternative way to get inside. It didn't take me too long to find a window, a small window for me to fit inside, the problem was that it was probably eighty inches high from the ground, maybe a little shorter.

I looked around the area to find three empty trashcans, several cardboard boxes, two wooden crates, and an old mattress… now why was that there? Well anyway, with these things in the alley I could stack them up against the wall and climb up to the window and get inside from there.

Starting off with the building a tower to get inside pushed the old mattress over to the wall beneath eh window I had to climb in. if I fell at least I would have something soft to land on… and dirty, I guess I should've thought that through. Thankfully the trashcans were empty and were light enough for me to pick up and carry it on top of the mattress. Now the trashcans were double my size, and I could not jump up to climb up on it so I had to use one of the wooden crates to climb up on to reach the top of the trashcan. The wooden crate was the heaviest to carry weighing like it was a ton or something. So instead of picking it up I slid it across the floor and pushed it onto the mattress by flipping it on its side at the edge of the mattress and lifting it on its side and flipping it over and pushing it next to the trashcan. A long process but hey, at least I got them both up. Using the cardboard boxes I stacked them up on the trashcan until eventually I had enough to reach the window.

I climbed up onto the wooden crate first, a little wobbly but stable enough for me to keep my balance so I wouldn't fall off. The trashcan provided a jump up to reach the edge to climb up on it. Again, just like with the wooden crate it was stable, but the worry was if these cardboard boxes would be strong enough to carry my weight. I had to climb up them as if I were climbing a ladder, using the small holes at the side to fit my paws and feet in while I climbed up. I was surprised the boxes didn't tip over immediately or while I was climbing halfway, all of the three boxes held up really well, even when I made it to the top of the tower I made.

The window was right in front of me so all I had to do was push it open or if it was locked I would have to break in. I pushed the window with my paws… it opened, it was unlocked. I pushed the window until it was open wide enough for me to climb inside. I had a way in. I felt the slightest bit of relief when I had finally managed to get inside. All I had to do was search for the antidote but keep on the lookout for the man who found me inside. I looked back at the alley if anyone was watching me, but I didn't see anyone, and that was fine by me.

"Hang on Zack, I'm almost done."

* * *

**Driftveil City – Pokemon Center**

The creepy part on searching the Pokemon Center was how close it resembled Purrloin's hideout; from the darkness, the quietness, to how empty it was. In the hideout in the corridors it felt abandoned like there was no one there except for the guards around the corner out on patrol. The layout was sort of the same as the hideout; the reception, staff room beside the desk, cafeteria on the right through some double doors next to a waiting room, and to the left was were all of the Pokemon where taken when being treated. Just standing there made me shiver as though I were back in the hideout and Purrloin would be just around the corner.

"_If this places layout was somewhat close to Purrloin's hideout, then the storage room should be on the left side of the building. It may not be the same, but I have to try."_ I thought while trying to remember the exact layout of Purrloin's hideout and how I got to the medical from the lobby. I didn't want to be wasting too much time, I had to think fast, I needed to help Zack. Looking above the reception desk I noticed a sign I could barely read in the dark, but thanks to the suns light peeking through the shut curtains I could make it out._"'Rooms 1-6 to the left. Treatment room to the left' There was a treatment room in the hideout. The medical supplies were there. Maybe they're close to that room. The supply room, they would be close were the nurses here would be treating their patients."_

"Yo! Lookie what I found here!" I jumped after hearing that voice, a voice which echoed the lobby if not throughout the entire building. Quickly turning around I saw a human, a man wearing a black jacket and pants with a rucksack hanging out of this pants pocket. He was standing so close to me I could see the scars on his face; he had a beard, quite the long one reaching down to his chest.

Another man, a rather tall man appeared around the corner near the waiting room. He was wearing a black trench coat all buttoned up and black pants and shoes. But unlike the man who was close to, he didn't have a knife, instead he had a handgun in his right hand, finger on the trigger.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The man with the beard said as he kneeled down in front of me, setting a knife aside on the floor next to him he took from his pocket. "A shiny Oshawott, and it's a female one."

The tall man wearing the trench coat whistled and kneeled down beside him. "That's pretty rare." He spoke with a somewhat hoarse voice, snorting a few times, the strong smell of smoke whenever he opened his mouth, or just being near him. "Could be worth a lot to the highest bidder, or trade to some trainer or collector who is looking for shiny Pokemon."

"Yeah, but the stuff we nabbin' is worth a whole lot of cash than a shiny. And besides, I ain't got me self a ball to catch the little girl." Suddenly, the bearded man picked me up before he stood up walking to the side door.

"Hey, whatchya doin'?"

"Getting the Oshawott outta here. We don't want anyone or anything seeing what we are doing. So I'm taking this Oshawott outside and staying outside until we done here."

"Ah, then feel free to do so then. Then come right back, we got a job to finish up here."

The bearded man carried me exactly where I had entered the building in silence with a firm grip around me with both of his hands so that I couldn't escape something I tried a few times but failed to do so.

The man opened the door slowly at first, peeked his head out the door if there were people there, but there weren't anyone in the alley, the coast was clear. He put me down gently, rubbing my head.

"Now you be a good girl and stay here until me buddy and I finish doing our job here. We work here you see, uh yeah uh that's right, me and my buddy work here as uh doctors- I mean janitors. We are cleaning up before the place opens tomorrow and we can't have anyone or cute little Pokemon like yourself in the way." He smiled. But if he was a janitor, which I knew he wasn't, then why was he and his 'buddy' armed with a knife each and his friend with a gun in his trench coat pocket? Which of the two men was the one who found me in that room I was in after finding the antidote in the vision I had? The man who brought me out into the alley seemed to be friendly, but the other guy not so much. What would happen if either one of them found me again inside the center?

With the door shut I immediately turned and ran towards the old mattress where the makeshift tower was and began to climb back up it and try again on getting the antidote I needed. I was scared, but I couldn't give up. I had to try again, but instead of running through the place and making a lot of noise attracting attention, I had to play it smart and stick to the shadows instead of standing in the open.

Whoever these two men were, what they were doing in the center, I'm guessing they were here to rob the place. And yet I'm also here to rob something. I didn't want to steal but I had to do this; we couldn't draw any attention to us since we might it attract the attention to the wrong Pokemon. Pokemon that might be working for Purrloin sent after us to take us back to her hideout or trainers wanting to catch us and we would never reach Nuvema Town. I would only get an antidote and one or two bottles of potions and that would be it, and after Zack is healed we would try to resort to something else other than stealing. Since Zack could speak the language of the humans, maybe we could us that to our advantage somehow.

After carefully jumping back through the window again and stopping and peeking at the corner towards the lobby where I saw the two men;

"Yo man, we gotta hurry up with this. What if some nurse or worker comes back all of a sudden?" The bearded man asked, his voice echoed throughout the building rather loudly.

"Keep your voice down you idiot." He barked. "Ya want some do-gooder to come snoopin' inside or callin' the cops on us? So shut up and get back to work. Speaking of workers; I already checked, ain't no one gonna step foot inside this place, be they janitor or nurse, unless they wanna have a bullet to their face."

"Ain't a gun gonna make a loud noise? Attracting attention to the outside? People are gonna hear that."

The tall man chuckled as he brought out his gun, attaching some kind of pipe thing at the end of the gun. "A special kind of suppressor I got from the 'market' if ya know what I mean. This baby right here will only be as loud as a feather dropping next to a person with the most sensitive of hearing. The noise of the crowd outside, they won't notice. So we are good for now."

"Alright, that's a relief." The bearded man sighed, taking out a rucksack from his pocket. "Staff room is through their past the front desk. Let's find these documents and get out of here."

Staying low and hiding underneath he chairs to safely pass through the lobby not taking any chances by stepping out into the open to make a quick dash for the next area of the center, my eyes never turned away from the open door where the two men had walked through. I wasn't sure exactly what I would do if the two men did spot me hiding under the chairs or later on; I suppose using my moves to attack them or attempting to flee, either way I would not leave this center without the antidote and the potions I needed to heal Zack.

I was almost near the doorway of the east area of the center when I heard the bearded man talk; "So what exactly does this Pokemon want?" He asked his accomplice, but got no response, not immediately. "Stealing a register book to find a name, give her soldiers some direction to go? Is she after a trainer?"

"I was told this 'target' she is after is a dangerous one; 'Just anger him and you'll unleash an unstoppable monster capable of annihilating an entire army.' was what I was told by her soldiers about the target, 'A monster the boss wants to control. Something she wants to use to help take the region for her own and rebuild what she lost' or so I hear."

"Yeesh, let's hope this 'monster' she is after ain't here with us."

"Well if it is here in this center…" I heard something metal click from the room. "It ain't gonna get angry before I pop its face full of lead."

"But we were told not to kill the target if it's here-"

"Make something up, we will. Say it attacked us and we had to defend ourselves."

They stopped talking by the time I reached the doorway of the east section of the center, I had no reason to be in the lobby so I continued on from there, looking back every so often when I walked down the corridor if the two men should decide to leave the office they were in and out back into the lobby, and we would have another unwanted reunion which would probably end badly.

At the end of the corridor I turned the corner and made my way down it in search for the storeroom. Three doors to my left and three to my right; treatment rooms for Pokemon to the left, two unnamed room to the right and at the end of the corridor was the room I was looking for; the storeroom. So without wasting a second I ran for the door as fast as I could.

Inside the storeroom were so many rows of tall metal cabinets full of medical items ranging from healing items such as; potions and Full Heals on one tall shelf, status healing items on and another, status improving items at the far back, and battle items on more. I counted eighteen cabinets all full with different items even some I didn't recognize, the smell of the medical items all mixed in made me gag a little for how strong it was, it kind of looked similar to the storeroom in Purrloin's hideout, but not as strong smelling and big this room was.

I walked over to the recovery cabinet and picked up a few bottles of Potion, then looked back after realizing as to how would I ever get these bottles back to Zack? There were too much for me to carry in my arms, so I would have to look for a bag to carry all of this. Quickly, I walked to the status items cabinet and picked up the antidote, two to be safe and placed them down beside the three bottles of Potions. "I should go look for a bag… *sighs* wish I brought the bag with me for this. Way to go Aqua, always going in to things without-"

"Hey! It's that Oshawott again! I'll get it!" His voice I recognized as the bearded man had entered the room, his silhouette in the darkness pointing at me with his knife clenched tightly in his hand. Then I saw him with one hand reaching out towards me, just like the vision I saw earlier, I didn't know what would happen if he did grab me again. Quickly, I jumped back a little, and then the other tall man walked inside and flipped the light switch.

"How the heck did it get in here? Thought you threw it outta the back."

"I did. I opened the back door and shut it after taking it out into the alley. Don't know how it got in here. Must've came in through a window or something."

The tall man sighed of frustration, putting his gun inside his trench coat pocket. "Alright, just deal with it permanently. No one's gonna miss it. We can't have any distractions with this job."

The bearded man with his knife took one step closer towards me. So I stepped forward and shouted to them. "I know you can't understand me, but I need these items. Zack needs this medicine so he can get better, so we can leave and go to Nuvema Town, a place that may be his home, a place where he may still have a family and friends who are waiting for him to come home, I can't let him down. So back off!" I stood my ground, ready to use whatever move I could us to stop the two of them blocking my only path out of here. But the man continued to walk towards me, and so I let them have it. With one quick movement, a move I had used a small amount of times but knew it well; Ice Beam freezing the two men's feet at first then their lower body and arms unable to use their weapons.

"Ack! I can't get free! Damnit!" Grunted the tall man, struggling to break free from the ice, but he couldn't move. "We gotta get outta here!"

"To… frozen… to… move! C-can't get… out! Ah!"

There was a problem still; I needed a bag to carry all of this stuff back to Zack with, and luckily I found one. After freezing the two men with the Ice Beam, one of the men dropped one of their rucksacks when the attack hit them. "That's convenient for me." I said, picking it up and quickly putting the bottles inside the bag.

I was done here, and so I left the center by going out the way I came in, but when I reached the corner of the alley, I saw police officers just outside the entrance of the center burst open the doors and charged in with their Arcanine's. I made a break for it when the coast was clear, running towards the bushes near the front of the building since the police had drawn attention from the people of the city, so I had to lay low behind the bushes and wait until everything had settled down. The police came back out after a while, but with the two men unfrozen but in handcuffs yelling that they were just attacked by a Pokemon and said that I was the one who they should go after, but the police just dragged them towards their cars. And when finally they were inside, the car drove off and the crowd reduced, that was when I made my move to leave this city and get back to Zack as fast as I could, praying he was still alive, and there was still time left.

* * *

**Route 5**

I crossed the bridge how I intended to cross it the first time I was here; walk alongside someone while pretending to be their Pokemon and them my trainer. I walked alongside an elderly woman who didn't seem to notice how close I was to her when we walked. To their other humans crossing the bridge, they perhaps only saw me as her Pokemon helping the elderly woman with her 'belongings' by carrying it to wherever she was going.

So after I crossed the bridge I made sure to look before I ran into the forest towards the tree where I left Zack, not wanting a curious trainer or two come running after me. My energy was low, I wouldn't know if I would be able to defend both Zack and myself if someone did try to fight us. After running through the bushes, I quickly hid to the left behind a large rock big enough for me to hide behind while waiting to see if any human with their Pokemon followed inside the forest, but after a minute or two of sitting patiently and silently waiting listening for anything other than the people walking by no one came. It was good for now, and I couldn't risk staying any longer, Zack needed me so I had to hurry. Running the remaining distance between here and the tree I left Zack in, a short distance so it was probably about a two minute quick dash and I was there.

Zack was still alive, he was breathing slowly. But I couldn't rest yet I had to apply the antidote to heal his poison and give him some Potion to heal his wounds recover his lost strength. Setting the bag aside and opening it up to grab the recovery items I needed, I began to apply the antidote, just the way Audino showed me how when she taught me how to apply ailment healing items to an affected Pokemon. After giving him the potions I let him rest, the antidote had cured him of poison, he would be alright. I leaned back against the inside of the tree we were in and relaxed. After today's events earlier it would be better if we stayed here for the night. With the police arriving to arrest those two men in the center, they would want to know what happened to them and why they were frozen in ice. No, we'll go early tomorrow and avoid the crowds. We had enough food to last us for tomorrow, so we'll just get it then.

After some time had passed, more so than I realized since it was starting to get late, Zack had awoken and immediately sprung up next to him.

"Are you feeling any better, Zack?" I asked him, he nodded weakly, slowly recovering his strength after applying Potion to his wounds mostly on his chest and stomach.

"Hungry… and kind of thirsty." He coughed. And so I grabbed a few Pokeblocks I got from the center and gave him some, slowly eating them one by one, and giving him a bottle of water. The antidote worked and Zack's strength had already returned, but he still needed rest before we head back out. "Where are we?"

"Inside the base of a tree I found." He put the bottle down next to him and rubbed his forehead with his paw before looking around the inside of the tree we were in. "Do you remember we were attacked by that Beedrill?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that… are you alright? Is the Beedrill still out there?"

"I'm alright; I got rid of the Beedrill so we'll be fine." I wasn't sure what to tell him, feeing ashamed of myself for not saying anything to Zack about the vision I had this morning. I was hoping he wouldn't say anything yet, allowing me some time to say what I want to say without sounding I wanted this to happen. Until… "Huh? Is the bag wet?" He asked noticing there was a large damp stain at the bottom of the bag He picked up the bag and sniffed it. "Is that potion? Aqua, what happened?"

I wanted more time to think about this, so without thinking I told Zack everything that had happened; the bottles inside the bag breaking and the contents destroyed, leaving Zack in the base of the tree so I could find some healing items in the city, sneaking in the center through the back while evading two thieves already in the center.

"I was scared I wouldn't save you in time." I told him all of this, but what I didn't tell him immediately was that I saw all of this in a vision; the Beedrill's attack, Zack being poisoned, and me searching for a cure. I tried to come up with anything so he wouldn't get mad. I don't know, I just felt that by making a mistake, just one mistake and everything would go south for us, I didn't want to lose our friendship.

"Zack, in my dream this morning I believed I was only dreaming and nothing more, but towards the end I saw you poisoned, and me searching the center for an antidote." I shook my head trying to stop myself from crying, feeling tears begin to form at my eyes. "If I told you about it, none of this would've happened…I'm sorry, Zack… it was a mistake, I promise it'll never happen again. I'm sorry… please don't-" But before I could finish what I was going to say I was pulled in close to Zack as he hugged me close to his chest despite there being an injury from the Beedrill's attack.

"Aqua, you don't have to apologize. We can learn from this and try to avoid it in future so the two of us can safely continue on with our journey and our future together. If you see a vision you do not like, just to let you know; I'm always here to help you. We're in this together, so let's not give up on each other." I hugged him back, happy he was alright, but I still cried. "Thank you, Aqua. I'm happy you're with me."

I cried, I guess I was scared about losing him or worried he would yell at me... I don't know. If he died, I don't know what I would've done; stay there for a while until I figure it out, wander the forest, go out into the main road and wait for someone to catch me and take me as far away from there, continue to Nuvema Town to tell his friends and family about him, how he died and where his body was so they could reclaim it… I don't know. I'm happy none of that happened and we could continue with our journey together. We were different; he a white Dewott with red eyes and sclera's black as the night, and I an Oshawott with the unique ability to see into the future, we sure were an odd pair.

"Huh? H-hey look!" Zack said, but before I could look at what Zack was pointing to, I felt it on my head. It was raining. Together we stood in the rain and let the water soak our fur feeling our energy recover from it. It was a nice feeling, made it feel as though the weight on our shoulders were lifted; worries on being pursued by Purrloin and her gang, trainers trying to catch us, wild and dangerous Pokemon, we felt safe. I'm not sure how long we did stay standing in the rain, but it was nice. I had hoped the remainder of our journey would be moments like this; feeling safe, a pleasant one like standing in the rain.

To be continued...

* * *

**Trivia:**

This chapter was supposed to be a two part with Aqua and another pokemon to help her get the medicine for Zack, but the other Pokemon was in fact a traitor and wanted to use the medicine themselves and fought Aqua for it.


	21. Chapter 21 Reunion Part 1

Chapter 21 – Reunion in Chargestone Cave Part 01

* * *

Earlier that morning after resting within that tree before heading back out, we successfully crossed the bridge without any trouble or human wanting to catch us or paying any attention to us. We entered the city and almost immediately we searched for some food and water to take with us before making our way out and continue on. Although the food stalls at the time were all closed by the time we entered the city, so we had to search other places for food and water, interior locations instead of on the outside. Entering the buildings through the back via by an open door or open window, it did provide us with some good sources of the things we needed; food, water, maybe some medical like bandages if we could access them or without being seen doing so. After I'd say between an hour or two of entering these buildings through the back and getting our paws on whatever thing we could, we managed to find a good amount to last us all the way beyond Mistralton city. So with all that done we left the city and continued through the route all the way towards Chargestone cave.

While walking, I remembered back to the dream I had last night. I was floating in a dark place, no light visible anywhere. But the only thing I could hear were voices of people and Pokemon I knew. Old memories from the past brought back to life through a dream.

"Using Psychic, Protect, Razor Shell, Rain Dance, or any other existing move in general for a Pokemon requires energy, small, moderate amount or big. All moves require energy to use up, no exceptions. Most moves require a year or more to fully master, others in a matter of weeks. Some moves require little energy to use up to perform at max volume, while others need so much more." It was Espeon's voice again, but it all sounded so familiar to me, like I had heard it before. Before I lost my memory, Espeon told me this when she taught me to use Psychic. "So in order for one to become strong with these moves you must train with them, master them so you can understand them. Using Psychic to attack or any other move to use against your foes, moves are more than that; they can be used to help yourself and your allies in so many ways; defend them from attacks, block an attack, or even combine moves to create a stronger variant. Oh! And also to be used out on the field. But don't get carried away and cause chaos out there."

"Hey… w-where friends, right?" Sakura's voice. Hearing her voice even though I didn't know who it was because of my lack of any previous memory before this, it made me feel sad and yet happy. During our final fight with Team Doom, Sakura Kanai was killed by the enemy along with my other friend Isaac Anderson. "I want to become a nurse and help Pokemon. Wanna be my first Pokemon I treat on when I fully become a nurse at a center? It'll be on the house."

"Dictionaries are sooo cool, don't you agree Zack?" Another voice appeared in this dark floating dream echo around me as if close by. It was Gardevoir, a Pokemon I had met during my second year as a Savior during the Time Crisis going on at the time. She had a bizarre obsession with dictionaries; collecting them, cleaning them, uh… strangely hugging them and cradling them as if they were a baby. But besides that, she was a good friend.

"Don't sweat it, buddy. I'll teach you how to use Razor Shell in no time." Dewott this time. When I first became a Dewott and during the time me, Espeon, Latias, Sakura and Isaac left on our journey to stop Team Doom, he became sort of distant in a way, refusing to talk to me mostly, even refusing to participate in the final battle against Team Doom, a battle all of my Pokemon except him were involved in.

"That cake you made me the other day was really sweet. I really wish my birthday was every week so I could have that delicious cake sooner rather than having to wait another year." It was Latias' voice this time, the last voice I heard in the dream, but I didn't know whose voice it was or how important she was to me. All of the voices I heard in the dream except for Espeon's, every time I heard them I always wanted to know more about them, a question that was bugging me ever since I first heard them; 'who were they?' no answers I get from either one of them, so all I could do was to listen and wait wondering who these voices were to me. "A 'Latias Cake' a cake in the shape of a Latias… I saw this being baked on the TV you and your mother were watching before my birthday, should've guessed. But I was still surprised by it when you presented it to me early that morning. But we can always make it again, maybe on special occasions."

The voices of friends, people who I had connected with over the years. Was hearing their voices enough to spark an old memory to return? Or did it need more than that? Looking them into their eyes, their faces, being in familiar locations. How would a memory come back to me I thought. On this journey, the longer way through the Unova region just to reach Nuvema town instead of going through Castelia City and going to the town the quick way, I would see locations I had been to, even reuniting with Pokemon and people I have seen before.

The dream however was short since we had to wake up early to get a move on before the city became too crowded. I guess the sunlight shinning right at us early in the morning was the best alarm clock we could ask for.

I told Aqua about the dream that I had and we began to discuss the possible ways I could regain my lost memories again.

"You seem to be having a lot of these dreams, Zack. Maybe dreaming will help you remember all that you have lost."

"I should definitely write about these voices I hear. What they say, how I can recognize each different voice that I hear, things like their favorite hobby or maybe a reference to a location of other humans and Pokemon I might know." I said after adjusting the bag I was carrying in a more comfortable position rather than having a water bottle stab into my sides. "Wish we could find a notebook and pencil so I could do so."

"Tell me more about it." She asked, walking beside me instead of skipping along. "What did the voices say?"

"There was this Espeon I had seen in a dream, her actual appearance instead of just hearing their voices. She told me that we were friends and to come back home to Nuvema Town. But it was strange; it was as though as if it weren't a dream… I mean, that it was kind of real in a way; me and this Espeon were actually speaking to one another… I don't know. A few of these dreams that I have are kind of like that; it feels real."

"Espeon… that's a Pokemon, evolved from an Eevee, right?" She asked. "I remember seeing a Pokemon like that in one of the books I read back in the hideout. You must know a lot of interesting Pokemon. I hope I get to meet her."

"There was also this other Pokemon I heard speak to me. She was talking to me about this cake or something… a Latias cake?"

"What's a Latias cake?"

I tried to remember the dream, about Latias talking to me about the cake I made for her. What sort of frosting did I use, the ingredients used to make such a cake, but nothing came up. What did the cake look like? In that moment, I had no idea what a Latias looked like or what a Latias was. "I don't know. But in the dream the Pokemon told me it was delicious. I must've made a cake in my trainer's home or something."

"A cake, huh? I never thought I would meet another Pokemon who knew how to make food like that. It's very rare to meet a Pokemon who can do the things humans do. Remember anything else from the dream?"

"And I do remember one Pokemon who was talking to me about how cool dictionaries were. Not sure what she meant by that, but uh… well there ya go."

"Dictionaries are cool? You knew a lot of uh… 'Interesting' Pokemon, Zack. I'd like to meet them someday."

"That you can do when we get to Nuvema Town. If my memory hasn't all been recovered by then, I'll uh try to introduce you to them and learn about their hobbies and more with them."

"At least the Espeon is a start on who to talk to first. Perhaps you'll remember other Pokemon and humans you can speak to on our journey, but it won't reduce the number of people and Pokemon you'll have to introduce me to you know."

"Alright, fair enough."

* * *

**Chargestone Cave**

Chargestone cave from the outside had a signpost on the outside reading; 'Be on the lookout for wild Pokemon within the cave. Pokemon within Chargestone cave will not attack unless provoked.' And this way being the only way we could get to Mistralton City without having to make a long detour around this mountain, a detour which would last us almost an entire days walk, we had to risk walking through the cave and expecting to run into Pokemon looking to start trouble. It would be faster going this way, yet also a little on the dangerous side. Maybe it would've been better off if we went around the mountain other than through it, but with the supplies we had we would run out by the time we left Mistralton City, and who knows how long it would take for us to replenish our supplies in the next settlement. No, it would be better to just go through the mountain.

But for some reason, it had felt as though I had been to this cave before, that on the inside we would be alright.

The entrance as well as the tunnels leading into the inner sections of the cave were lit up by glowing blue rocks at the sides or stuck on the ceiling illuminating our path, otherwise navigating through the cave would be impossible without a source of light. It was surprisingly quiet when we first entered the cave, expecting to hear some wild Pokemon or some other ambient noise like water drip nearby, but it was silent. Two tunnels, a tunnel to the left and a tunnel to the right. The right tunnel had a sign saying; 'This was to Route 7 and Mistralton City.' And the other tunnel only had a 'Danger!' warning sign. Walking up the right tunnel I noticed on the tunnel walls, scratches, and blast marks made by Pokemon, still warm to the touch. "Perhaps there was a trainer or wild Pokemon battle recently." I thought to myself as we passed through the tunnel, seeing more marks of a past battle throughout the tunnel stopping until we reached the next section of the tunnel. A round circular area with three tunnels this time, but unlike the entrance this area had no signpost to help guide travellers towards Route 7 anywhere, no broken shards or nothing. The only thing remained in this section were the glowing rocks above us, leaving us with a choice of three to take.

Without saying anything, we walked through the first tunnel on the right hoping it would lead us were we wanted to go. Should it be a dead end we would just turn right back around and try another tunnel until we had gotten at least some sort of progress in this mountain cave. Well, I'd say this tunnel out of the other two did lead us somewhere, a long and somewhat narrow tunnel big enough for a human to venture through with more glowing rocks than the tunnels behind us the more we ventured further inside. We then thought that this was the correct way to go, a one in three chances and we took the correct tunnel, and very soon we would hear the sound of the outside, but instead we heard something different, we heard the noises of Pokemon speaking up ahead, many Pokemon echo throughout the tunnel growing louder as we approached.

Then we saw them as we peeked the corner, a large cavern with hundreds of different Pokemon gathered around a large collection of illuminated glowing rocks in a circle arguing amongst themselves; 'Intruders!' 'Our lives are at risk!' 'They're a danger to us all!'

"What's going on, Zack?" Aqua whispered. "Who are they talking about?"

I didn't reply at first, wanting to listen in more and trying to find out if these 'intruders' they caught in their argument didn't mean me and Aqua.

'We have suffered daily attacks from them for the last three days, we have to hit them back and make sure they stay down! Will all of us out there, we can take them!'

'We can't leave the cave! The cave is our home! And not only that we have old Pokemon and young Pokemon, sick and wounded, who cannot fight against this new enemy, who will protect them if all of us leave?'

'I'm not saying all of us should leave! Only those strong enough to take down the enemy while the rest stay behind to protect those at the cave.'

"It sounds like they are being attacked by Pokemon? I can't tell who it that are-" Was all I could whisper to Aqua before the both of us had our arms grabbed by a Graveler appearing from behind us. Him just being there startled us as we didn't even hear him approach us, he must've been camouflaging amongst the rock wall behind us, maybe on guard duty or something.

"Intruders listening in on the conversation, huh? Liked what you two heard?" He grunted, lifting us both off our feet as he carried us down towards the Pokemon down below. "Well, don't be shy. Let's introduce you both to the family. Get you acquainted with them and hope they don't crush your heads in for how troublesome you Pokemon have been recently. Cause me and a few others want to pay you Pokemon back for all the damages you and your friends have done."

The two of us were thrown in the center of the once arguing crowd of Pokemon stopping once they saw us. The Graveler walked into the circle and stood before us. "Found these two spying on us. Sent here to spot our weaknesses or something. But I found them, I stopped them."

"Spies!" Yelped one of the Pokemon from the crowd.

"Tear them to shreds!" Screamed another.

"Wait!" I interrupted them, shielding Aqua from the Pokemon as they slowly drew near to us, wanting them to see reason that we weren't any threat to them. "We are just travelling through the region trying to get home. We are not a threat to any of you!"

A Boldore emerged from the crowd, kicking small rocks at us. "You are definitely spies sent by those horrific Pokemon. Trying to find our weaknesses and sending them back to your allies. We won't be fooled by your lies! Kill 'em!"

The crowd roared, preparing their moves one by one to attack us, an attack we might not come out of it alive if we didn't act fast enough, talk our way out of it to convince them in some way we weren't their enemy… or unless someone intervened and stopped everything, and so someone did.

"Hold up!" A Muk emerged from amongst the crowd and came up to us holding his arms up to silence the crowd. "Now don't tell me you forget about this Dewott? What he did for us?" The Muk approached me and patted my back. Both me and Aqua looked at one another, confused at what he was saying.

'_What is he talking about?' _I thought as I looked back at the Muk, not remembering anything about this Pokemon. But before I lost my memory, I rescued this Muk inside this cave. When the three clans of this cave were almost at war with one another, the water was poisoned and so they blamed each other for it, mostly the Poison type clan for contaminating the only water supply that flowed through the cave. We wanted to pass through the mountain cave, but until the dispute was solved we couldn't go anywhere, so to solve it I went inside the narrow tunnel were the water was to find further down to find an injured Muk collapsed near the stream of water, its sludge had contaminated the water supply. So after taking the Muk back to the others, the war between the three clans was resolved and peace was restored.

"This Dewott here, he saved all of our hides from a war we almost started amongst ourselves. He's a hero is what he is." Muk chuckled after patting my back with his sludge hand. "Can't believe you guys forgot about that."

The crowd of Pokemon spoke amongst themselves for a moment, pointing at me and Aqua. From what I could hear from the crowd, I heard; 'Is this him?' 'Are you sure?' 'He didn't have an eye patch over his left eye then.'

A Magnaton levitated to the front of the crowd and asked "Are you sure this Dewott is the same Dewott from before? We know what that Dewott's name is. Has this one even told us his? It may be a different one. So go ahead, tell us what your name is."

The crowd including the Muk all looked at me; the cave was now silent waiting patiently for me to tell them my name. "My name is Z-Zack…" Just as I had said that, the crowd began to murmur quietly, some gasping. "Um… this is Aqua, my friend. We're just passing through this mountain cave-"

"Zack, it's so good to see you again!" A Zubat flew up face to my face as other Pokemon from the crowd came rushing towards me, all of them happy and smiling.

"Nice to see you again! It's been too long." A Joltik hopped around me in a high pitched voice. A Ferroseed, a Tynamo, a Klink and a Drilbur all saying the same kind of things to me, greeting me and welcoming me back after not seeing me in so long.

* * *

Sitting around a small collection of glowing rocks gathered as if sitting around a campfire, though like a fire it still gave off a slight warm heat from it, Aqua and I were with the Muk from before, a Voltorb, a Boldore, and a Golbat, three leaders from the three clans of Chargestone Cave; Poison, Rock, and Thunder types sat together amongst the glowing warm rocks to talk. To talk about things I didn't remember, a reunion from almost a year ago, and then it would be about this enemy showing up at the cave.

"So you're telling us that you lost your memory? All of your memory; who you are, where you came from, everything?" The Voltorb asked, usually sounding a little angry as he spoke, but before the memory loss he sounded worried.

I nodded and spoke. "My name, and where I think I am from as well as a few snippets of my life are the only things I know about who I am. I don't even know how I ended up like this, covered in so many scars and with a left eye scratched out." Without realizing, my paw randomly moved up to my left eye and slightly rubbed it a little. "And this Oshawott here is my friend, her name is Aqua. She and I have been travelling to my hometown together for some time while she helps me regain my memory back."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Aqua." The Boldore greeted, introducing us to the three clan leaders and Muk. They didn't have nicknames and were just called by their species name; Voltorb, Golbat, and Boldore. "It saddens us to hear that you have lost your memories. If you'd like, we would gladly recall the things you did for us here, as well as talk about other things about your team you were travelling with that may help jog your memory."

Aqua and I looked at each other and nodded, so we asked them; "We would like that. Please tell us all you can." Seeing as though this was a good place as any to get some rest before heading back out, and a great opportunity to refill out water bottles and also gather more information about my past.

"Alright, let's start with Zack and his team showing up at the cave for the first time." Muk started, warming himself up with the glowing rocks in front of him. "There were five who entered the cave; two humans, and two Pokemon, oh! And let's not forget you; totalling to five who had stumbled upon the three clans all at each other's necks about to start a war with one another. The five wanted to pass through the mountain to reach the other side, but the clans of the mountain wouldn't allow anyone to pass unless the quarrel was resolved here first."

"He was travelling with two humans. Can you tell us about them?" Aqua asked.

"He was with two humans, a boy and a girl in their late teens I'd say." Boldore spoke up first, letting Voltorb speak next after that. "Their Pokemon were an Espeon, and some other Pokemon I don't really know what. It was red and white with amber eyes. It was also flying in midair. I believe the group Zack was with were on some important mission, a dangerous one if I remember correctly, not sure what it was to be honest."

"_An Espeon travelling with me… so when I had that dream A few days ago meeting and talking to that Espeon, so I did know her. What were we travelling for?"_ I thought about the other two humans I was with, my trainers I had thought. But what about the red and white Pokemon we were with. _"What Pokemon was I travelling with? And why can't I stop thinking about it?"_

"Not sure which human Zack belonged to, might have been the both of them. I don't know how this whole Pokemon/Trainer thing works."

"What did they look like? Can you describe them?" I asked, wanting to know more about them. A description, hair color, or clothing, anything that may help me remember something about them.

"The boy was wearing some kind of white and blue jacket, black pants and shoes, all looked tattered and old. The boy had blonde hair with blue eyes, slightly tanned and looking like he hadn't eaten anything in months if not years for how skinny he looked." Golbat was talking about Isaac, but to me at that moment I could only try to imagine what this boy looked like, no sudden jolt in the brain or anything to help me remember anymore about him, there was hardly anything.

"The girl you were travelling with; black shirt, pants, boots, all black including hair. She looked kinda pale like she hadn't seen the light of day in a good while. She had a few Pokeball's attached on her belt, and since you as well as the other two Pokemon were there with them, maybe she belonged to you. I'm not really sure." Again like with Isaac, I tried to imagine what Sakura looked like, tried to remember her voice, her name, things we did in the past. But like with Isaac, no memory ever came.

The only things I got out of them were that the girl and boy I was travelling with seemed to talk quite a lot when they were together and while I was helping Muk and bringing him back into the cavern and healing him up. As for the other two Pokemon; Latias and Espeon, they were together most of the time while I was away often seen hanging around one of the tall glowing rocks coming out of the cavern wall near the entrance, talking about this cave, how it was nice, bluish and kind of cold.

"You know, Zack here after getting me outta that water and dragging my sludgy body back to the cavern, I was singing and wailing like a mad Pokemon as if I were a level 100 or something! Top of the world I was feeling. And ya know what?" Muk pointed to me while still talking to Aqua. "The moment he found me lying there in the water, I was all delirious, almost drunk-like; walls and floor moving like everything was all dizzy. I even got him to sing one of famous shanty's."

"Really?" Aqua smirked as she looked up at me, nudging my sides with her elbow. "Didn't take you for a singer, Zack. Was he good or was he bad at it?"

Muk laughed and turned to the other three leaders who laughed with him and Aqua shortly after. "He sang like a drunken singer filling the caves with a darn good tune that would make anyone's day if they ever heard it! So yes, it was pretty good!" I didn't remember that at the time, but I would and I remembered doing that, 'singing' only because I didn't know what the rest of the lyrics he was singing were or what to do in that moment. Unsure if it would help get the Muk moving faster than it was slow when trying to get him out of that tunnel.

So after I had helped Muk out of that tunnel, the clans stopped the war from ever starting and there was peace finally at the cave and the team I was travelling with were finally able to pass on through to proceed on to what only my lost memory knew what. I didn't remember any memory of the last time I was there, saving an injured Muk and restoring peace to the cave. But it was nice to learn about myself and the team I was travelling with, even learning that I sang with a Muk despite how embarrassing that sounded when he told to everyone.

I wanted to know more about these humans and the other two Pokemon I was with, perhaps they knew more. But before I could ask, several Pokemon approached the three leaders alerting them of the news of the intruders. Voltorb turned to the other two clan leaders and nodded. "Let's deal with this, here and now."

"Everyone, prepare for battle!" Ordered Boldore as the three leaders including Muk got up and ran as fast as they could towards the tunnel which would lead them towards the entrance of the cave, and we followed closely to investigate this enemy, curious as to whom it was at the entrance, and yet also fearing that it might be Pokemon we didn't want to see again.

"What's going on?" I asked as me and Aqua had to run to keep up with Muk moving as fast as he could to the entrance of the cave.

"A vile bunch of Pokemon appearing for the past three days now. They have done nothing but terrorize the Pokemon who live within this cave and the surrounding area in search of missing Pokemon from their clan. We have told them since day one we have not seen any Pokemon belonging to their clan and they still do not believe us, attacking any Pokemon they see. We believe a battle could start any day now with them."

Aqua and I glanced at each other as we ran together. Had Purrloin's gang already got this far searching for us? Or was it another clan searching for different Pokemon and we were alright to continue on without fear?

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

**This chapter wasn't originally a two part chapter, or set within Chargestone Cave, they would've gone an alternative route. But this was changed after the alternative route version of this chapter seemed to be a filler story with nothing much else. So after remembering about how Zack had been to the Chargestone Cave in the previous story and met Muk and the three clans within, I thought it would be best for a reunion chapter of a sort.  
**


	22. Chapter 22 Reunion Part 2

Chapter 22 - Reunion in Chargestone Cave Part 02

* * *

****

**Chargestone Cave**

We ran towards the main entrance of Chargestone Cave following the three clan leaders up front; Golbat the leader of the poison types, Boldore leader of the rock types, and Voltorb leader of the Electric types with Muk in between and us a little behind not wanting to draw any attention to the enemy when we reached the entrance, unsure whether or not the enemy could be Purrloin's Pokemon sent to find us. _"They wouldn't be that extreme!"_ I thought out loud as we ran. Always telling myself that Purrloin gave up on us and it was another clan out there and wanted nothing to do with us, that we would be safe for the remainder of the journey, I wanted to believe it.

Before we reached the corner of the tunnel where the entrance was, we heard some Pokemon argue, but then stopped when the three clan leaders turned the corner

At the entrance, we saw standing at the entrance six Pokemon standing beside the other, Pokemon me and Aqua knew; a Pidove, Rattata, Pansear, Houndoom, Herdier, and a Timburr. If I remembered correctly from when we were in Purrloin's hideout I remembered seeing these same exact six guarding the main lobby of the hideout.

"No… it's just a coincidence." I thought to myself as I carefully peeked around the corner at the six Pokemon again. "Pidove had a scar above his left eye; Houndoom had a scar under his maw, and Timburr a scar on his left shoulder…" If I saw those scars, I would know if it was them or not. But all six Pokemon standing by the entrance stood away from the light in into the shadows making it difficult for me to see if they did have scars. So all I could do was listen to what they wanted.

I wanted them to be other Pokemon from another clan, not involved with Purrloin at all and this was just a coincidence that the six Pokemon standing at the entrance were someone else. But unfortunately for us it would appear that escaping Purrloin wouldn't be as simple as that.

"We are looking for two Pokemon from our clan. A white Dewott with a black and red eye wearing an eye patch over his left eye, and a shiny female Oshawott. Have any of you guys seen them? If so, tell us their exact location or we will force our way inside and punish you all if you are protecting them!" The Houndoom growled along with the other five Pokemon beside it all glaring at Voltorb.

"You think you and your clan can come in here into our home and intimidate us? Hah, you must have some nerve the lot of you!" Voltorb glared at them. "We ain't seen any Pokemon like that at all in the cave. When it comes to Pokemon and humans walking through this cave, we also let them know we won't stand for any staying longer than they should, not bothering them if they don't bother us. But you! You come in here and threaten us the first day you arrive, attempting to harm one of our Pokemon after they greeted you and warned you of how your actions are always watched so you do not try anything funny. You do not seem to understand that your actions this far are almost about to start something that will not end well for you and your allies!"

The Houndoom shrugged. "These Pokemon we are after, no matter where they try and hide, we will find them. And if any Pokemon assist them we will kill them all! Including the young. So think about it with your other Pokemon, don't allow your future generation to have a short life."

"We have no Pokemon like that inside this mountain cave." Boldore spoke up, taking a step forward towards the six Pokemon with several Pokemon from his clan backing him up should the six try anything. "So how about you take your friends outta here and buzz off!"

"We have a lot of us just awaiting our orders to rush inside. A good hefty number of thirty all ready to storm the place outside this disgusting mountain." Timburr chuckled. "So unless you don't want your children to die, like my friend here said they would if you refused to let us inside, I recommend you do since the thirty outside are more than pumped up for a battle. Even one involving young Pokemon if it'll help gain them some experience."

"You're all vile!" Golbat spat, flapping his wings furiously at the six. "What kind of leader allows their own to hurt the young and sick?"

"I ain't the leader, and neither is any of the Pokemon you see before you." Houndoom snickered. "Purrloin is our bosses name, and if she were here to join us she would be instantly storming the place until she finds the two Pokemon she is after. So be grateful it is just us you are dealing with, so we can negotiate peacefully without any blood from being spilled. So either cough up the two Pokemon right now, or you will all die!"

"And we keep telling you, you ignorant fools, we have not seen the Pokemon you are looking for!"

Muk moved back out towards us and away from the eyes of the six Pokemon. "C'mon, I'll help you two pass through the cave to the other side. You can escape from there."

As we ran alongside him, Aqua asked before glancing back at the corner of the tunnel were we heard moves being used by probably all of the Pokemon at the entrance. "What about you guys? This is your home; we can't just leave you here to deal with Purrloin's gang all by yourselves. We can help you."

"Heh, we're not alone. So don't worry about us, we got more than enough Pokemon from all three clans to help take down these vile Pokemon." Muk chuckled as he guided us down the tunnel. "You just worry about yourselves and get outta here. After what you did for us, how could we give you and your friend up to those vile Pokemon. No! We would never give up any Pokemon to Pokemon like that. You helped stop a war from breaking out amongst the three clans. And together the three clans joined as one creating thus a stronger clan of Pokemon living under the same roof. You're a friend to the Pokemon of Chargestone Cave. There ain't no way we're going to let these vile Pokemon hurt you or your friend."

"You don't have to." I said as we had to narrowly squeeze through a tight small cave, me and Muk just barely passed through, while Aqua effortlessly crouched through.

"Heh, I may not look it, but I got more muscle than these vile Pokemon combined. I can handle them for I am known as the hero of this cave back in my day; fighting off an entire clan of invading Pokemon trying to take over the cave."

"Well, don't push yourself. The cave is still going to need its hero." Aqua chuckled, following closely behind Muk.

"So what did you guys do to set them off?" Muk asked as he guided us through the narrow passages, far too small for humans to enter. I guess that was how the Pokemon navigated through the rather than walk down the main tunnels humans pass through. "Never seen so many Pokemon from one clan after their enemy. Do I even want to know what you guys did?"

"Not too long ago Aqua and I were taken in by the Pokemon who are here at the mountain cave. They brought us in, fed us, gave us a place to stay. But this clan we were with weren't the nicest of Pokemon clans in the city, especially their leader. Hurting anyone who dared opposed them, killed them. Then when it got so bad for us, we had to escape."

"The leader of the gang has a rule refusing any of her gang members from leaving the hideout or the gang." Aqua said as we stopped at the end of the tunnel, watching several Pokemon run past the tunnel we were in towards the tunnel on the right to fight off against Purrloin's gang. "We escaped, and they're out here trying to bring us back, but It'll be bad if they do. Either it'll be torture or death, maybe both."

"More reason for you guys to get away from them as far as possible. We'll hold them off for as long as we can." Muk waited a little while longer before giving us the all clear for us to move forward to the next tunnel. It wouldn't be too long now for us to reach the exit and away from Chargestone Cave.

But before we reached the exit, two Pokemon up front turned the corner almost running into us, two Pokemon Aqua or I didn't know, but they knew us. "They're here!" shouted a Taillow, his voice echoed behind us as the other Pokemon, a Nidorina used Quick Attack on Aqua so suddenly, she was thrown into the tunnel walls with a loud slam breaking off shards of rock onto the floor.

Muk used Sludge Bomb against the Taillow and I used Tackle against the Nidorina. The attacks didn't do much damage by themselves, but surprisingly they did do something I wasn't expecting to happen. The move Muk used managed to get both Taillow and Nidorina and stuck them together. And so we used it as a good opportunity to escape.

"Aqua! H-hey, are you alright?" I knelt down beside her, lifting her head up a little, but she was unconscious. The back of her head was bleeding. I couldn't heal her up there and now, it was too dangerous. I would have to do it away from Chargestone Cave. Picking her up carefully, I followed Muk as he guided me to the exit of the cave.

"She alright?" Muk asked.

"She's unconscious. I'll have to treat her wound somewhere away from this cave."

Both of us turned back to the tunnel upon hearing many voices I could just make out saying 'What happened?' 'Who did this?' 'Zack and Aqua are up there!' echoing throughout the tunnel.

"I'm guessing those vile Pokemon just discovered their pals all tied up." Muk moved a little bit back towards the tunnel, glancing back. "Ya know, Zack. It was good seeing you again after so long. It's a shame we didn't have more time, maybe sing a few shanties here and there, but it was better than nothing."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"This is my home, and my friends and family need me, just as Aqua needs you, so you help her. Find your home, recover your lost memories and live." Muk began heading back down the tunnel, glancing back before he disappeared around the corner. "Take care Zack, you keep her safe. This is my way of saying thanks for saving me when you did." It was all Muk said before he began charging around the corner of the tunnel, the echoes of countless moves being used, cries from multiple Pokemon were heard. I couldn't stick around any longer; Muk gave me and Aqua a chance to escape. I didn't want to leave without trying to help them, but Aqua needed to healed up, and I couldn't risk me and Aqua being captured, so I had to run, praying and hoping Muk and the others back at Chargestone Cave were all okay in the end, they managed to scrap by with just a few scratches and everything would be back to the way things were.

I'm not sure how long I ran for, away from Chargestone Cave, through the route. I'm not even sure how many people I passed by if there were any. My only concern was to find a place I could heal Aqua at fearing that if I stopped Purrloin's gang would eventually find us or Aqua would die. I didn't have much experience on using medical items. Potions and stronger variants I knew how; you just sprayed the bottle onto the wound and let it heal. But she did hit her head very hard against the tunnel wall I didn't know it would be enough to help.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Character interactions 02/03 – Purrloin and Buizel**

An unknown Pokemon watched the two Pokemon sit together in front of a quarry from behind a bush big enough to conceal them to watch the two and listen in on their conversation. A conversation that would've went unheard if it were not for the Pokemon that has asked for its identity to remain anonymous still to this day.

"So, what are you going to do about the Dewott?" The Buizel named Lucian asked, skipping small stones across the quarry… failing at every attempt. "Now that we have an alliance with the humans and that masked Latias assisting us on our search for some reason. Are you going to punish him like you are with the Oshawott?"

"Zack? No. But the Oshawott, definitely." Purrloin smiled as she tilted her head up to look at the sky. "The Oshawott will pay for what she did to my future mate. When I have her in my paws… oooh, to think of all of the punishments I will inflict upon her, imagining what she'll sound like when I hurt her is sending chills down my spine. But seeing Zack and holding him close to me… I hate being apart from him!"

"Forget about that stupid Dewott!" Lucian snapped back at her, dropping the remaining stones onto the ground. "I have been with you longer than that loser, I have been more faithful to you than anyone else in our gang! And that memory loss thing he has, now that's just a stupid attempt to earn sympathy points from all of us after him being all cut up like that so we'll go easy on him, feel sorry for him. For all we know he probably did that to himself! And the Dewott's girlfriend, that Oshawott he is always seen with, they were most likely a part of another gang's team and came in here to find our weaknesses!"

Purrloin stood up in one swift motion, walking to Lucian with a relaxed smile on her face. Staring at Lucian for a moment before she swiped at his right cheek with her paw. "If I ever hear you call Aqua being Zack's girlfriend again, I'll kill you." Purrloin held up her paw and noticed the blood on her claws. "But you are right about one thing; you are loyal to me. And Zack being a part of another gang, losing all of his memory being fake, and him cutting himself up like that? Don't make me laugh, you stupid Buizel. That Latias offering an alliance with us, assisting us in our search for Zack and the Oshawott, despite my so-called agreement to hand over Zack to them after I was done with him, I am simply using them so this search for the two is quicker. Then after I have them both I will return to Castelia City and pretend I haven't found him or the Oshawott. Then that fool of a Latias will just cry about it and leave to find some other petty puppet."

Purrloin walked to the edge of the quarry, kicking some stones into the water one-by-one. "All I gotta do is simply plan everything I will say to the masked Pokemon. Make it sound convincing and hopefully we'll go our separate ways; me with Zack as my mate and father to our future children…" She said as she danced around with a huge smile on her face, giggling every now and again.

"Ugh… children with him? You gotta be kidding me, only a messed up Pokemon would ever consider being with a Pokemon like that… then again, you are pretty messed up…" Lucian groaned, but Purrloin didn't seem to react to it or even care. Comments like that from anyone within her gang whoever spoke to her like that wouldn't live for much longer. So Lucian was lucky that day, very lucky that Purrloin didn't react and kill him right there. Either Purrloin didn't want to lose any more Pokemon to assist her on the search for Zack and Aqua, or maybe her mind was too deep in fantasy. Only Lucian not too long after he said that realized what he had said, standing back in shock. Fearing that Purrloin heard him and was biding her time to move in close to finish him off. She would dance a little more before using a move on Lucian that what would be fatal, maybe attack him for saying what he said, but nothing like that happened. All she did was dance and hum to herself for an hour.

Lucian walked towards and stop in front of the bush the Pokemon who saw all this transpire and he spoke to himself quietly while looking back at Purrloin. "I better not saw things like that in front of Purrloin again, otherwise I'll be dead. Just keep calm Lucian, keep calm and relax. No matter what she says about that stupid Dewott it is all just a fantasy. Once I find him, I'll kill him and me and Purrloin will return home, she'll finally look at me and maybe even look at me the same way she does when she looks at that Dewott… and everything will return to normal." Lucian sighed happily, placing a paw over his heart. "Just gotta get to the Dewott first, kill him, make it seem like he died to something to else that it won't trail back to me in anyway, and everything will return to normal. But what to do with the Oshawott? Hmm…" Lucian sits beside the bush in silence. An hour later an Purrloin would stop dancing and call Lucian over to join with her gang to continue the search.

**Conversation End**


	23. Chapter 23 Care

Chapter 23 – Care

* * *

****

**Mistralton City – Pokemon Center – Aqua's POV**

The first thing I noticed when I came to was that I was inside a large white rectangular room on a small bed at the corner beside an open window on the left. I turned my head to my right were many beds lined up against the wall with three other Pokemon, some with a bandage or two wrapped around them being treated by a nurse, and one still sleeping. 'Where am I?' I asked myself quietly. Then I moved my paw up to my head to feel a bandage. Then I remembered back when we were at Chargestone Cave when Purrloin's gang attacked. Muk was guiding me and Zack to the exit of the cave to escape Purrloin and her gang. I remember running and then suddenly stopping when a Tailow and a Nidorina ran into us, that was all I could remember. "A Pokemon Center? Sure looks like one." We never have gone to a Pokemon center before; it was usually out there in the wild from treating our wounds, eating, sleeping, so why was I here then? Was I captured? I sat up and searched for Zack. He wasn't beside the bed, neither was he in the room. I assumed the worse had happened and tried to get up. But before I even budged, I noticed something yellow suddenly appear at the bed beside me. It was a Pichu looking at me.

"You okay?" The Pichu asked, leaning forward closer toward me and examined my bandage. "You were talking to yourself. I heard you. Must've been a nasty bump to the head. But don't worry, the nurse here treated your wound and you'll be up and at 'em again in no time."

"N-Nurse?" I said, still confused and anxious about where I was and who this Pichu was.

"Yep, yep! The human nurse called Nurse Joy. She helps every Pokemon who come in here. This is the Pokemon Center after all."

"W-who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry 'bout that, forgetting to tell you my name. I am Pichu, one of five Pokemon owned by my trainer Alex. He won't be back till later on tonight after going on a big date with another trainer. We would've liked to have gone with, but unfortunately the restaurant refuses Pokemon from entering… but look on the bright side, at least I got to meet you and talk to you just as soon as you came to!"

"How did I get here?"

"Oh, that's right you were unconscious when you were brought in here by the white Dewott named Zack. Is he your friend?" Pichu asked as she inched closer towards me waiting patiently for my answer, I nodded my head; throat I had just slowly noticed was dry. "You have been here since yesterday afternoon. Zack brought you in here carrying you in his arms trying to find a nurse to help you and the nurse came surprised that he could speak the language of humans somehow, and the nurses began to treat you." 

"So you're finally awake, huh?" I turned my head at the door as I heard a voice call out to us. It was a Vaporeon smiling at us from the doorway, followed by Zack both walking up to the bed; the Vaporeon sitting beside the Pichu, and Zack walking around the other side of the bed to stand beside me.

"Zack!" I called out to him, holding out my paw as he approached and took my paw. I was happy to see he was alright.

"How are you feeling?" Zack asked.

"A little sore at the back of my head." I said after touching the back of my head were my head hit the rock wall. "Feeling a little bit groggy, but in other words; I feel fine. But why are we here, what happened to the others at the cave?"

"After escaping Chargestone Cave I had to find a place to lay low for a while. To get away from Purrloin and her gang as far as possible, but also to treat your wound as soon as possible. I don't know much about treating wounds apart from using Potions and stuff, but the bump at the back of your head… I had to come here to get you looked at, to check if you were alright and nothing too serious had happened. As for the others at the cave, I don't know what happened to them, but I'm pretty sure they're alright." I looked to the otherside of the bed to see Pichu and the Vaporeon still there, that was when Zack introduced them to me, or just the Vaporeon since I already knew what the Pichu was called. "Those two are Pichu and Vaporeon, Pokemon from the same trainer awaiting his return from a date. They know the city and would be happy to help us gather some supplies for the journey."

"As well as help you both with directions." Vaporeon added. "Me and Pichu over here have been travelling with our trainer for quite some time now. Up and down the region like a ball having been dropped from a high place. I'd say we have been travelling for ten months just training, earning badges, and meeting new potential party members. But since you two are on an important journey, I guess asking you to join us on ours would be an obvious 'no', huh?"

"You must be hungry; I'll go and get you something from the nurse." Zack said before walking away from the bed, searching for a nurse inside the room at first, but left when there weren't any in here with us. 

"So," Vaporeon began as she leaned up on the bed using her paws, with Pichu sitting on top. "You two are heading to Nuvema Town, correct? Zack told us that was where he might be from. He said he lost his memory?"

"When I found him in Castelia City, he was all cut up and bleeding all over. When he woke up he said he didn't know who he was or where he had come from. But days later he started to remember bits and pieces of his past, including a town he says he knows; Nuvema Town." I said careful not to include Purrloin and her gang in the conversation. "I'm travelling with him while also helping him remember who he was. Also I am helping him by cleaning up his wounds, especially his eye. After all I am the medic of the duo." I chuckled at that last part.

"Wow, that's something. Even more is that you are a medic. Makes me wonder why just Audino's are suited as medics in Pokemon Centers… I'm so jealous." Pichu gasped. "How come you two didn't go through Castelia city the quicker way to Nuvema Town rather than having gone the long way around?"

"Um… t-there were some… complications that I uh…"

"Relax, Aqua. Zack told us yesterday about this Purrloin gal and her gang after you two." Vaporeon said. Something I was surprised at and yet worried, not wanting to advertise about us being wanted by a crazy Purrloin and her gang. "So don't you fret about it, our lips are sealed and we'll just pretend like we have never met you two. No way, never ever seen you two before. Right Pichu?"

"See who again? I don't recall ever seeing a shiny Oshawott and a white Deowtt travelling together." Pichu winked, and the three of us laughed. "I understand how aggressive clans can be when it comes to a Pokemon leaving. I should know since I was once a member of a clan of Pokemon that didn't it when one decided to up and leave. But from what Zack told us yesterday about your ex-gang, they sound far worse than mine. Me and Vaporeon together right after Zack told us about the things this Purrloin gal has done, well we didn't have to know about Purrloin for us to decide we would never ever tell another living soul about you. So we won't be talking about you two to anyone else outside this building to another Pokemon, or this one. Yep, it's all hush, hush from here on out."

"Thanks." I sat back against the pillow, relaxed now that Zack and I would be safe but a little bit worried due to how close we were from Chargestone Cave. "We've been through a lot. But it is difficult walking through the region together without causing a lot of human and Pokemon eyes to stare at us. It'll definitely cause quite the talk around the area and beyond, attracting the attention of Purrloin's gang."

"More reason to pretend like we have never met you and Zack." Pichu smiled. "We'll try to make sure our trainer understands what is going on with this Purrloin gang and also pretend like he hasn't seen you two." 

"What about this trainer's other Pokemon?" I asked, curious as to wanting to know what kind of Pokemon he had. "Who are they?"

"Oh, right! There's obviously Pichu and I you have already met. A Bulbasaur, a Ponyta, and finally a Gothitelle. I believe our trainer is trying to go for an all rounder team instead of focusing on just one type. Adding Pokemon to our team with different types, sending others at the PC in reserve ready to face the elite four if we ever get that far. Kind of nervous to be honest about doing that in front of a crowd that big."

"I would've flat out rejected to go out into something like that with so many watching you as well." Pichu nodded her head. "Well, at first I would've, maybe a few years back, but now with my trainer and friends backing me up, I feel as though I am ready to face anything." 

"Pichu and I have known each other since the beginning of our trainer's journey." She smiled at Pichu. "We started off kind of rough with one another. Trying to gain the number one spot for our trainer's star Pokemon, arguing with one another over which one of us was the stronger, better Pokemon. Over time, not sure when, our trainer told us that all of us work as a team and that there are no favorite's. But we didn't listen and still tried to earn the spotlight, so one day when our trainer was injured, the two of us while getting him some help fought over the other to be the one to save his life. Then after some talk by one of our Pokemon buddies; a Bulbasaur by the name of Bubba reminded us that we're a team and should work together to help our trainer. So anyway, long story short we set our differences aside and worked together to save our trainer. And before we knew it we became great friends." Vaporeon grinned as she nudged Pichu.

"She may be a pain now and again, but we are inseparable. I couldn't have asked for a better friend. So Aqua, I've been meaning to ask you, is Zack your mate?" She asked me so suddenly, I was stunned by this.

"Umm… no, me and Z-Zack aren't together. We are just friends travelling together." Was all I could say, feeling my cheeks burn slightly.

"Oh, I see." was all Pichu said as she leaned back on the bed. "Well, you should've seen him yesterday and last night, he wouldn't leave your sight. Told us about what you two have been through while watching over you."

"So, do you like him?" Vaporeon suddenly out of the blue asked me, to which I just froze up, feeling my cheeks burn hotter. "C'mon, you can tell us. It's just us females in here. No males here for the moment."

"Uh, there is a male Lucario over there in the corner." Pichu pointed towards to the left corner of the room, a Lucario being treated by an Audino wrapping a bandage around his arm.

"Alright…" Vaporeon sighed and shook her head. "There are no males close to us; it is just you, me, and Pichu here."

"Um… w-well we are friends, good friends. We have been through so much together, uh…" I didn't know how to continue with that. It didn't help that Vaporeon and Pichu were seemingly inching closer the longer I held back on answering them. Then I started to think about that, did I really like him in that way? Even if I did, he might have someone else back home and I didn't want to destroy that. So I just shook my head and told them we were just friends.

"You know, there are things…. Different about him than other Pokemon out there; I have never seen a Dewott like that before. Sure I've seen the common more than the shiny variants, but a white Dewott with black and red eyes? Now that's a rare one. And might I add; a real cutie." Vaporeon giggled. "And he can somehow speak to humans. I mean have a one-on-one conversation with them. And they understand his every word. I wonder how he learnt to do that…"

"You know, from the looks of it, I'm guessing he has seen his share of battles judging by how many scars he has over his body, and that eye patch he wears." Pichu said as she lightly patted her friend's back after sitting beside her. "Didn't you mention something about scars recently, Vaporeon?"

"Hmm… oh yeah, I did say something about scars, now what was it?" She paused for a moment as she lifted up her left paw to look at her own scar. It was a small scar across the middle claw. "Oh yeah! I think it was something along the lines of 'every scar has a story to tell' oh wait- no, I don't think that was how it went. Well it was something to do with scars, not sure what though… ah, this has created quite the conundrum."

"I believe it was 'how scars have a story to tell' thing. Remember what happened in Nimbasa City two years ago after defeating the gym leader there? We met Gastly in an abandoned home waiting for its trainer to come back, but never did since they did over twenty years ago. Our trainer caught It and joined the team, but it had a hard time getting used to being in a team so our trainer got us all together and we talked to Gastly about ourselves, our scars…" Pichu lightly tapped Vaporeon's paw. "and our dreams, then you throughout most of the talk spoke the most about how you got your scar."

"Oh yeah… well anyway from what I was saying about Zack, to help Zack with his memory problem you could help him by his scars?"

"Uh… how does that help?"

"Take a closer look at them, examine them… I don't know, I'm just throwing whatever into the pot." Vaporeon leaned her head on the side of the bed. "I'm just saying maybe he might remember something about them. All of those large scars on his body; you'd think he'd at least get something out of one of them. It could help him remember something."

"Well, we do look at pictures of places around the region he could've gone to." I remembered when me and Zack looked at the map book in Purrloin's hideout for the first time, then not too long he remembered something about Nuvema Town. So maybe he would remember something if he looked at his scars more… maybe, I don't know. 

"But right now, instead of working all day, how's about we all take the time off, relax, and enjoy tonight's celebration event?" Vaporeon tilted her head to face to the window at the sudden loud cheers from outside and music which began to play. I looked through the window to see that from outside across the street there were people setting up decorations at the sides of the building.

"Celebration event?" I asked.

"I don't know much about it, only what I could hear from the crowd the other day is that today is a celebration for… something. Not sure what though, but I do hear there will be food, music, and fireworks for everyone in the city tonight."

"So while our trainer is out on a date, all of the Pokemon including us can go outside in the back yard to get ourselves some snacks and watch the celebration from there."

"Man, I'm starving. How about we go grab our own food? Should've asked Zack earlier to get us something… dang it!" Pichu hopped off the bed and stretched.

"Well, I am feeling a little bit hungry. Um… I hate to just up and leave you like this, but uh, do you mind if we leave for a bit to get ourselves some food?"

"Go ahead; I'll be fine until Zack shows up." I nodded.

Both Pichu and Vaporeon got up off the bed and made their way out towards the door. Pichu ran out first, her voice echoed the corridor cheering for some delicious food.

"Oh, by the way Aqua!" Vaporeon stopped at the doorway as she glanced back at me. "Since this celebration is tonight, you should be able to go outside in the back with us if you like. I'm pretty sure it'll be a blast, just like those fireworks we'll see tonight. So get well rested and we'll see. Maybe you'll even get to dance with Zack tonight since there is music playing. Just saying." Vaporeon giggled as she left the room to follow her friend Pichu.

I watched her leave, a little slow on what she meant by that._"Dancing?" _I asked myself, then I remembered the vision I had not too long ago; I was standing in front of Zack under the stars surrounded by tall bushes. Music began to play and Zack started to dance first and I followed.

My visions weren't set; they could be changed if I wanted them to. If he did have someone he loved back home, I didn't want to destroy anyone's relationship. "We could always just dance for fun… just me and him dancing and enjoying ourselves for this celebration event, that's all it is." I kept asking myself. "He tells me things about himself. Little things like the places he can remember, another city and a few towns being there and the food he remembered eating, foods he asked if I would like to try if we get a chance. He is nice, and I do find him attractive… but he may already have someone…" Then Pichu and Vaporeon's words came to mind, stuff like how he stayed by my side all night, and if I me and him would dance together tonight. I smiled and shook my head. "It's only for fun, nothing more to it."

* * *

****

**Pokemon Center – Gardens**

This 'Celebration Event' I have been hearing for some time during our stay within the center, all I ever found out about it other than the food, dancing, and fireworks is that the city was celebrating the day legendary Pokemon a couple of hundred of years ago came to this city and helped save the city and its people from an attacking army. So every year the city gather and have fun while they wait for the fireworks, something which is said to signal the end of the assault by the attacking army and when the legendary Pokemon had finally gotten rid of the enemy. 

I was allowed outside in the garden of the center, a big enough garden for I'd say twenty Pokemon… or less surrounded by a hedge almost as tall as the Pokemon Center itself.

There were many Pokemon outside with us, most in small to medium sized groups, while others stood to side or beside the food table to eat a selection of tasty looking treats for us to eat. We weren't hungry so we just grabbed a juice box each from the table next to it and walked through the garden, first to get a look at the beautiful flowers they had growing here, and tour the garden.

During the walk we saw Vaporeon and Pichu talking with multiple Pokemon, urging them to dance with them since the music playing loud enough elsewhere provided them with something to dance to. It was a nice change of scenery rather than being out there in some cave or abandoned building for the night anxious at every Pokemon or trainer that had gotten too close. To be here with nice Pokemon and humans, it made everything feel nice, like weights had just been lifted off my shoulders. 

Zack and I found this small section in the corner of the garden almost surrounded by bushes as tall as Zack, but it did provide us with the best view of the night sky since the main section of the garden did have a lot of hanging lights and decorations obscuring the view of the fireworks that is to come.

"I wonder how the others are doing; Jolty, Glaceon, little Eevee, even Pellet, Bulbasaur and Phoenix. Do you think they made it?" I asked before taking a small sip from the juice box we got from the table of drinks.

"I think so. With how many of Purrloin's gang outside and within the cave, is a bit too much just to capture us two. It's like everyone was there due to how many that were there." Zack crossed his arms and stared at the ground in deep thought for a moment. "If we do see anyone of them, one of the good Pokemon we'll let them know of Purrloin and her gang searching the area. I wonder how long it'll take for them to give up and go back home?"

"Let's hope it isn't for too long. I would rather worry about getting caught by trainers and fighting a wild Pokemon than having to be chased by Purrloin and her gang every day." I had hoped they would eventually give up sooner rather than later. After being injured back in that cave made me a little bit concerned on my strength alone. Was I good enough to defend myself against any foe that stood in our way? I didn't do so well back in that cave not lasting even a second in the fight; I could've slowed Zack down or let ourselves be caught right then and there. I didn't want to be a burden. I wanted to get stronger so the two of us could protect each other, and I wanted to protect him. Our moves weren't perfected yet, and since we still had another day here in the center, I figured tomorrow would be best for us to train a little, just to be safe for the road ahead. Especially with Purrloin and her gang near to the city.

Suddenly, music began to play in the distance somewhere within the city, yet loud enough for everyone in the garden to listen to and some dancing amongst themselves and others while the humans who worked here watched them dance with amusement.

Through the bushes we saw Vaporeon dance with a Machoke, Pichu with an Eevee, and many more Pokemon dance with each other. As little as four didn't dance or seem interested in doing so. Then I noticed Zack looking at me, and I looked at him. He stood up and held out his paw. "So uh… you wanna dance, Aqua?" He asked, shifting his eyes nervously. "Um, I just thought that uh, since there is music playing and everyone else is dancing and stuff… so uh, do you want to?"

"Why, do you have a crush on me?" I teased, noticing his blush grow a lot redder.

"Ah, of course not. I thought it would be fun. You know, just the two of us?"

I stood up and took his paw "You got it!" So the dance we did was I'd say 'whatever moves we could think of' since we just started twirling around, flapping our paws and arms around and moving our legs trying to pretend like either one of us knew what we were doing. If someone actually watched us do all of this I'd think they would burst out laughing at our attempt to dance. Unlike the other Pokemon beyond the bush we were hidden behind they actually looked like they knew how to dance, but like them Zack and I were having a lot of fun, and that's all that mattered in the moment. It helped me forget about the worries that I was having, so tonight was a night of relaxing and having fun. 

The dancing I had in the vision a while ago started off something like this; underneath the stars around tall bushes dancing to some upbeat music with Zack. Although I did see the bad dancing in the vision I never really focused on that and instead focused on the area and the fireworks instead. But the vision didn't show the end of the dance, just halfway through it. These visions that I have of future events can sometimes be the most useful things to watch out for, but on the hand the most useless. So why was I shown a vision of us two dancing? Maybe it was a way for us two to relax for the road ahead or something. If we were too stressed something could happen somewhere down the line.

We danced for at least ten minutes… since the song they played lasted for twenty minutes almost, I was surprised to see almost all of the Pokemon out in the open including both Vaporeon and Pichu still dance for that long.

Then we heard cheering as the fireworks were set off exploding in the sky where we saw colorful patterns ranging from blue and red… yeah, it was just those two colors and nothing much else. But they were pretty though, even if the patterns they used were all large circles, triangles… uh, yeah they didn't have much range on various patterns.

"Phew… that's all the dancing I can do for one day." I coughed trying to catch my breath from all the mad hopping around I was doing, almost dropping my own scalchop in the process.

"Yeah… I don't think I can do anymore…" he laughed, catching his breath from the intense 'dancing' we did. "That song sure did last a really long time. It's like they're trying to kill us. Man, my heart is almost about to burst."

I chuckled as I felt my own heart beating hard. Finding the drinks right where we left them, I took mine and drank from the juice box and swallowed the sweet juice inside. 

After looking down at my sclachop, I remembered how I wanted to train tomorrow right here at the center only for a day so I could warm up for when we continue through the region. "Hey Zack, if it's alright with you, but can we stay an extra day so I can train a little before we head out?"

"So you want to train tomorrow? Yeah, I suppose I'm gonna have to catch up on my training too. Alright, we can do that tomorrow." He said as he sat down on the grass and I sat beside him as we watched the fireworks. "How are you feeling? With your head I mean?"

I touched the back of my head lightly with my paw. It didn't hurt as much as before, but it was healing up nicely. "Feeling good. I'd give it a day or two and the cut will heal up nicely. I'll be fine for tomorrow's training session."

"I'm glad you're feeling better. Just don't overdo it, okay?" Zack smiled as he hugged me. I nodded and hugged him back, and the two of us just sat there together while watching the fireworks in the sky.

'Just for fun, nothing to It.' was what I said early that day before the dance began. Being with him sure is fun; we enjoy each other's company. Sure that's what it was, but… I don't know. I was unsure how to do it, to ask him and when. I suppose for now I would just have to wait and help him recover his lost memories and… go from there. For now, we just enjoyed the show as two friends. 

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

In the original draft of this chapter, Aqua would've been temporarily blind after the attack in Chargestone Cave.


	24. Chapter 24 Ice Cream

Chapter 24 – Ice Cream

* * *

****

**Opelucid City**

After the training session yesterday, we were told by one of the nurses we could leave the next day, but on the day Aqua and I were training together we found out Vaporeon and Pichu were leaving the city to continue with their journey. They were heading in the opposite direction, so instead of going to Opelucid City where we were heading, they were doing to Driftveil City to face the gym leader of that city to earn another badge and with all eight badges they would go on to face the elite four. Turned out the date Vaporeon and Pichu's trainer didn't go so well and wanted to leave, and so they left the day after the festival to continue on.

Our time together was short, and we really did want to spend some time together during our stay in the city until Aqua's wounds had healed up. But we wished each other well and hope our journeys end well; their trainer as champion and us back home. 

It had been several hours, passing through route 09, but we finally made it to Opelucid City. It was a somewhat lively city today, children with their parents and Pokemon, most with a plastic cup and eating something out of it with a plastic spoon. At first I tried to get a look on what it was they were eating but couldn't since no one in the city stood around and were hurrying to somewhere saying 'The next flavour is this way'

Hanging across buildings were the same hanging light decorations the Pokemon Center had in the garden, only these hanging lights were larger and appeared to be in the shape of an ice cream cone… or a drop of water. These people were celebrating something, but right now we weren't interested in what they were doing and wanting only to continue on through to route 11 and the Village Bridge. 

"The training went really well yesterday, I'm feeling stronger now. Check it out; I levelled up a whole lot!" Aqua cheered as she flexed her arm to show off her muscle to me.

"Nice work, Aqua. I'm seeing some improvements." I smiled amusingly at her cheerful dancing around, something which look almost identical to the dance Aqua and I were doing during the festival.

"Some? You mean a lot for how much experience I gained. I believe that if I keep it up, my training I mean I should have my moves mastered." She smiled and walked by my side with her paws behind her back as she walked. "You gotta keep up, Zack, or I'll easily dominate you; making you eat all of your food on time, finish you training, go to bed early. And there will be nothing you can do because you will be too weak to do so." She teased as she shot a mischievous grin at me.

"Then I'll turn into a rebel and run away from home. Nope, I couldn't stand being with my bossy mom." I pointed at Aqua before lightly pushed her and began running.

"Shut up." She laughed and quickly caught up with me and the two of us decided to run together further in towards the city. But the running while aiming to run towards the city exit stopped about halfway into the city when I stopped and looked up at a banner flapping in the wind. 

'Ice Cream Convention' a large banner hanging between two buildings with many flavors of ice cream to the side; vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. Sure ice cream is delicious, but I wasn't hungry. One of the flavors I caught was one called 'Blueberry' I don't know why I stopped when seeing that flavor, but for some reason it felt familiar to me, a good feeling. In the past, this ice cream flavor was my favorite, had it all the time for my birthday. Sneaking down stairs at night when I was still a kid and into the kitchen to grab a bowl full of the stuff for how good it was despite only being told not too by mom.

"Zack?" I looked down to see Aqua. I looked back up.

"That ice cream." I pointed at the ice cream flavour; Blueberry. "I don't know why… but I feel as though I remember something about it, something from my past."

"Blueberry Ice cream? What is that?"

"It's a frozen desert… uh, I think…? There are many flavors of ice cream; a lot of them are good." I said to her not remembering anything about ice cream except for how good they were, but not the taste. I tried to remember, but everything came up blank about them.

"Do you think if we tried this ice cream flavor, you might remember something from your past?"

"It's possible. It wouldn't hurt to at least try it out."

"Well, if it'll help you remember then we can't pass it up." Aqua paused briefly before turning to face the building where most of the ice cream flavours were being kept. "I would've liked to have kept on going, get as far away as we could from Purrloin and her gang. But we have travelled far from Mistralton City arriving in the afternoon. I suppose we could have a little break from travelling and get ourselves something nice." 

* * *

**Ice Cream Convention – Entrance**

Well, this was something I had never seen before but it was a sight to behold. Hundreds and hundreds of different flavors of ice cream on every table for people to taste, flavors in the past I had before, seen but never tried, and many of them I had never heard of before. The building on the outside made it seem like the interior would be small, but the inside was huge able to fit about a few hundred I'd say, most lining up to get a taste of the popular and the rare flavours.

There weren't many Pokemon besides us inside, mostly Vanillite's travelling round with staff, and a Psyduck standing in line with its trainer for the coffee flavored ice cream, one of the few stalls that had less than ten people lining up for.

"Wow, look at all of this!" Aqua gasped as she looked at all of the different flavors of ice cream. "Popcorn, orange, banana, cheery, rum raisin, white chocolate, and mint?. What is all of this? They sound good, but I have never had it before. Can we try some of these flavors?"

"I suppose we could try at least a few of them." And as if on cue, a member of staff approached us with a tray of small plastic cups of sample ice cream.

"Hey you two, would you like to try some ice cream? I bet ya do." The man asked as he picked up one of the cups of ice cream and handed it to Aqua. Aqua looked back at me, and I nodded giving her the all clear for her to go ahead and try some. After taking the small cup, the man handed her a little spoon for her to dig in and gave me one while passing the same cups of ice cream to children that had gathered behind us to get their own little cups of ice cream.

Me and Aqua both got the same flavor of ice cream; Vanilla for us to try. It was a new experience for her trying food like this since all she has ever had were dry and hot foods all her life. I wasn't sure how she would react at her first taste of ice cream; panicked that food could be ever eaten like this, shocked, or maybe find it inedible. She scooped up the ice cream with her spoon and cautiously nibbled at it… then gasped. She then blushed and then smiled as she ate more from what was left on the spoon and then scooped up more.

"Yummy, it's so good! How have I missed this all of my life?!"

I ate my ice cream, the first time in a long time. But vanilla didn't help spark any memory from my past. All that happened in the moment was me enjoying the taste of vanilla ice cream, and the sight of how Aqua looked when she ate more ice cream, liking the inside of the cup for whatever was left. Aqua grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the stalls behind us.

"Zack, c'mon let's try some more flavors. I want to try the chocolate one next. The uh…" she twisted her plastic cup around to check what the flavor of her ice cream was called. " 'Vanilla' this flavor was really good, I want to see what a chocolate version of ice cream is like. Please!"

I wanted to get the blueberry flavor first. Then after we could have a few flavors of ice cream and get out without wasting too much time. Then I thought that maybe some of the other flavors of ice cream could may as well help with memory on the same level as the blueberry one.

"Hmm… alright, we could try a few of these flavors." I said while being dragged with her to the chocolate ice cream stall to line up. _"Hey, what's the worst that can happen? Aqua goes on an all out ice cream spree and wants to taste every flavour out there?"_ I thought… oh I just had to think of that… and it happened.

And what turned into a small quest to hunt down and try out the blueberry flavored ice cream then turned into a long 'taste every ice cream' quest and go back for seconds or thirds due to how much Aqua really wanted to have more.

It had been a while, but we finally found it; the blueberry flavour ice cream stall. A stall with plenty of ice cream for everyone inside the convention if they lined up for it… unfortunately for us that was what the line was like for how many there were. But it didn't last forever thankfully and instead lasted nearly an hour, for me at least since Aqua left the line to go to another stall nearby to get herself some ice cream a couple of times. And when I finally reached the front of the line, grabbed the cup of blueberry ice cream for the both of us to enjoy together, I had to drag her out of one of the lines so she could join me for the moment when I tasted the blueberry flavor ice cream for the first time after losing all of my memories.

"Oh wow, this is incredible! Ice cream is the best!" She cheered as she finished up her lemon ice cream and set it aside so she could start with the blueberry. "Is this the flavor you were looking for?"

"Yep, this is the one." I nodded my head. "I hope this amount of ice cream will at least be enough to get something out of it. A memory as to why this flavor stopped me in the middle of the street after looking at it."

"Um, you can have mine if you want. Anything to help you remember who you were before all of this." She offered me her ice cream, but I declined and shook my head.

"No Aqua, that's your ice cream. Go ahead, I have got mine. It'll be alright with what I have got." Lifting the plastic cup up with one paw and the spoon in the other to dig in, I smiled. "So let's enjoy this flavor together."

I scooped some of the ice cream in the spoon, enough that would safe to eat and not give me brain freeze. As soon as the blueberry ice cream hit my tongue, the memories of how much I loved this flavor, the nights of me sneaking downstairs just to grab myself a bowl, every birthday I would have this as a dessert with my sister Yuri, my mom, and Latias… nothing came. I swallowed the ice cream expecting the memories to come at any moment now. Then I scooped up some more and ate it, savored it. The only thing I got out of it was that it tasted good, and nothing else.

Disappointed, I sat down near the wall next to one of the stalls trying to figure out why exactly I felt as though I knew that flavor of ice cream. "Zack, what's wrong? Did you remember something about that flavor? Was it something bad?" Aqua sat beside me.

I shook my head. "I remembered nothing from eating it. I thought I would. When I saw that flavor outside the building, I had a feeling I knew it somehow, that eating it would help with my memories. Maybe I was just imagining it…"

"Maybe you weren't imagining it." She placed her paw on mine, and I looked at her. "Before when you stopped outside the building looking at the blueberry flavor ice cream, you were focused on it. And you said it yourself, you felt like you knew it, that you had it before. Plus you also knew it was cold and there were many flavors. Maybe you knowing what kind of food it was were your memory coming back in a way. That you remembered having it before."

"Yeah." I sighed. Still disappointed that I didn't remember anything about my past. But she did have a point; I did know what ice cream was without even trying it after I lost my memory. So perhaps something kicked inside my head when I saw the words 'ice cream' on that banner, just a little bit. Regaining memories were a tricky process indeed…

"Even though you didn't get your old memories back, at least we made some new ones today." She placed her paw on mine; I looked at her and saw her smiling at me. "We at least got to try this delicious desert. When I lived with my parents in Castelia City before I met you, I had never had food like this, not even close. But you know Zack; we still have time before the convention closes. Want to stick around and try out some more flavors? Instead of it being about trying to remember your past, how about we do this for fun?"

"Okay, let's go." I smiled and agreed to stay at the convention a little while longer. Trying out the other flavors we didn't try out yet; a lemon one, birthday cake, wasabi, and a few others. Well, only those three were the ones we hadn't tried and then went back to the other flavors we had. We must've tried the vanilla flavor six times… well; Aqua did while I only had it twice and gave up on ice cream after getting brain freeze too many times.

An hour or two I'd say of watching Aqua eat ice cream made me almost forget how long we were in there for, only realizing the place was closing within the hour when hearing the voice over from the announcement telling us about the closure. Something which didn't end too well with Aqua since she wanted to stay and continue to eat more and more flavors nonstop, but somehow I managed to pick her up and carry her out of there without any problem what so ever.

"Ugh… so full… and yet I am still wanting more ice cream… so tasty, I want more…" she cried in my arms when carrying her out of the city, waving back at the building where the ice cream convention was.

"Once we get home, we'll get you some ice cream then. How does that sound? You can eat all you want." Aqua relaxed and cuddled into my chest and nodded.

"Alright… but all of those flavors… so many good flavors… *sniff* they were soo good!"

"Heh, I'm guessing you really liked those ice creams, huh?" I chuckled. "Yeah, they were nice."

And on that fateful day turned Aqua from a happy Oshawott talking about medical to a happy Oshawott talking about ice cream flavors almost non-stop. Chocolate this, vanilla that, the talk of ice cream somehow crept itself into almost every conversation we had. Although I didn't remember anything from my past except liking that flavor of ice cream, it may have been something small, but at least we had a lot of fun that day.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Character Interaction**

The following is a conversation between Shiny Latias and Purrloin in an old building somewhere south within Castelia City before Purrloin took her gang to find and bring back Zack and Aqua. This conversation listened in to the entire talk without attracting any attention from them or the guards nearby. Through the window, the Pokemon who has asked to be remained anonymous can see in the room Purrloin sitting on a child's chair at a plastic table with Shiny Latias levitating very close to the ground her paws resting on the plastic table. 

"I was once with my mother and father in the city, living and enjoying our lives carefree. But then they wanted me to leave them so I could find my calling in life." Purrloin spat as she reminisced about her past to Shiny Latias. "I knew what they really meant; they didn't want to be with me anymore. But family is supposed to stay with each other forever. So I killed them for betraying me."

"Sounds like you have family issues Purrloin. No offence, but I have a little family trouble myself."

"Hmm… none taken. It would take me a week or so when I was hunted down by humans for killing my own parents, seeing me as nothing but a violent and vicious Pokemon who if in the hands of a human child injure or kill them or their Pokemon." Purrloin scoffed. "So I killed these people called The Savior's for trying to kidnap me and kill me, viewing me as a monster when all I ever wanted was a loving family. Is that too much to ask?"

"Nope." Shiny Latias shook her head "I'm glad it was members of The Savior's. People who joined that group should all die a painful death. So well done on that."

"Well anyway; later I found Lucian the annoying Buizel who is always following me around as if I'm his mate or something. Gained more Pokemon to join my gang and we have all lived together under the same roof as one giant family."

"Until Zack managed to find his way into your life. Something you hated since now you and all of your 'family' are out here?"

"No, far from it. If there are a few things I hate in this word is that are humans are trying to hurt me believing I am a threat to them, Pokemon who betray me and run off, and Oshawott's who dare try and steal Zack from me. It's her I hate, not him."

"Uh huh…" Shiny Latias nodded, bored now as she rolled her eyes from listening to Purrloin for ten minutes almost. 

"This ability you have, you say you can control them?" Purrloin asked her new ally Shiny Latias. Shiny Latias would hurt anyone who ever asked her questions like that or pried into her life, surprisingly she didn't with Purrloin. Perhaps she saw her as a real friend, or perhaps as a tool for getting her close to finding Zack. SH ewould need all the help she could get if her plan would ever succeed.

"Of course. Anything from my victims such as them revealing to me their darkest secrets, doing whatever I command of them without any resistance." She smiled. "I can even control their breathing; make them stop if I want."

"And you have used it on a good amount of victims?" Purrloin asked as she leaned in her seat. Shiny Latias smiled and nodded, lightly scratching into the plastic table.

"I have used it… against my own soldiers whenever they fail a task I give them." She chuckled. "The look on their faces… It's so hilarious when they realized they have failed only to be then tortured by me. I have even used my ability on Zack's allies I have captured after he escaped."

"Sounds like you two have had quite the history. Dare might I ask how it is you two know one another?"

"Very well…" Shiny Latias chuckled. "The Dewott has been my enemy of mine for a long time. Long ago I once lived in a large building full of humans, soldiers I once called my family. Then the Dewott came into the picture and took everything from me, my family, burnt down my home, and killed my father." She held up her paw and examined her claws. "When I have everything I want, I will exact my revenge on Zack, make him kill all of his friends and allies… and then I'll end his life a slow and painful death." 

"I see." Purrloin smiled and nodded. "But you know, I am after Zack. I want him back, he means so much to me. He understands me…" she twirled her finger on the table, but then slammed her paw on it hard. "But then that Oshawott had to interfere with my plans and take him away from me!"

"You… like him?" Shiny Latias had a look of disgust on her face. Then she smiled. "So tell me Purrloin…" Shiny Latias says without looking at Purrloin's eyes. "How much of Zack do you know?"

"He lost his memory, only except for his name. He also speaks… differently from any other Pokemon I have met. And not just the way he speaks, but it sounds oddly familiar to the way humans speak."

"What would you say if Zack was not all that he seemed to be? That he was… different from you and me, from your entire gang?"

"We are all different. All born to different families, grew up differently. No one is the same regardless how we are born, what we learn. But the choice to befriend them is there, the reason to hate another is there. Whatever you say Shiny Latias, It'll have no affect on me whatsoever. Zack a murderer, a wanted criminal, a famous Pokemon, the most vile Pokemon to have ever lived hated by the regions humans and Pokemon, all of that and more will not affect the way how I feel about him. So do your worse. Tell me what I do not know about him, cause nothing you say will undo that." 

Shiny Latias leaned forward and smiled, looking Purrloin into her eyes. "Really? We shall see about that."

Conversation End

**AN: Yeah, kind of a short chapter and more like a filler chapter. But it was all I got. Next chapter will be up sometime soon. So until then, take it easy ya'll.**


	25. Chapter 25 Help

Chapter 25 – Help

* * *

****

**Route 11**

It was raining heavily now, several minutes of walking through the route. We couldn't find anywhere where we might find shelter until the rain passes, so we had to walk through it until we could find shelter from the rain or until we reached the Village Bridge. But because we were water types we liked this, it really helped in a sense help us feel energized, relaxed. But we couldn't stay out in this for too long, winter was approaching and it was really cold outside, Aqua shivering as we ran together, we would have to hurry and warm up.

"Zack, should we head back to Opelucid? It's raining really badly. And it's really cold out." I glanced back at the road we came from leading back to Opelucid. I had considered on going back and staying in the city until the rain had passed, but I didn't want to risk going back and running into Purrloin and her gang. They would've left Chargestone Cave not too long ago; we would most likely encounter them sooner than later if we stayed in one place for too long.

"Can't. We gotta keep moving." I then glanced at Aqua, still seeing she was still shivering. _"Ten more minutes and we'll make it to the Village Bridge." _I told myself. _"Once we get to the Village Bridge we'll find a place to lay low and get warm. We won't be able to do that here in this pouring rain, but I don't want to risk running into Purrloin. I wish I brought something along to help keep us warm for the journey, like a blanket or something, especially when it's getting colder in the year."_

We had run a little more through route 11; past the waterfall, over the river and making a quick shortcut through the tree's saving us five minutes. We were running really fast through the route eager to get somewhere warm and out of the rain, almost too fast to have almost missed the wild Pokemon staring at us through the trees. Pokemon I was cautious about for how many were watching us. About to slow down and stay off the main path to avoid the eyes of all of the Pokemon watching us, we heard screaming just around the corner of the route. It was a man calling out for help followed the sounds of Pokemon using moves, explosions and growls all which echoed throughout the route if not more.

"Zack, do you hear that?" Aqua asked, the two of us came to a complete stop. Then we heard the man again call out for anyone to help him, so we ran as fast as we could. At the corner of the main path past the trees were an elderly man being attacked by several Pokemon; three Arcanine's an unusual sight to see especially in the rain, two Arbok's, and a Sandslash another unusual sight in this weather, all of them circled around the man pinning him to the ground with their moves, slashing and biting at the man's legs.

We had to help him, so we ran together towards the Pokemon and attacked with our moves; Aqua with Ice Beam at the Arcanine, and I with Scald at the Arbok. The attacks hit, but they weren't enough to defeat them or scare off the group. 

"Eh? Who are these Pokemon?" One of the Arcanine's growled as it readied itself to attack us.

"Who cares! They're interfering with us. Let's get 'em!" The other Arbok spat as it had finished preparing its Poison Sting and chose to target us instead, slithering over the man's body leading the rest of the Pokemon towards us.

The Arcanine's rushed at us first, but we quickly dodged to the side finding ourselves feeling energized thanks to the rain. Since Aqua and I were both water types, our moves could take down both Arcanine's and the Sandslash with ease. The Arkbok's however would prove to be a problem since we didn't have many antidotes if hit by their poison based moves. I didn't want a repeat of last time when I was poisoned and Aqua had to search all over for an antidote. So we had to be careful.

The Sandslash jumped up from behind the Arcanine's to attack us with Fury Swipes vertically at us. Aqua quickly used Ice Beam to attack the Pokemon while I fought off the three Arcanine's with Razor Shell, hitting two out of the three successfully, but the other missed and managed to land a direct hit sending it flying back into the trees. Aqua ran up to the Arcanine's, jumping up before a wave of water came from the ground as she used Surf and attacked the two fire types dealing super effective damage against the two, defeating one but leaving the other still standing with barely any health remaining. As soon as the move began to fade after being used, Aqua flipped off backwards and readied her own Razor Shell to attack one of the two Arbok's.

"_She's a pretty good fighter I'd have to admit, the training the other day really did help a lot."_ I thought to myself, impressed at her technique. I used Water Pulse at the last Arcanine standing before focusing on the last two Arbok's.

One of the Arbok's attacked me with a Poison Sting continuously backing me up against trees set on finishing me off. But then one of the Poison Sting's had hit me, but thankfully I wasn't poisoned. But it sure hurt a lot, but not enough to keep me down as I used Scald right into his face defeating it. Looking down at my chest where the Arbok's attack had hit me, I noticed there wasn't any scrape or any injury, and that immediately after defeating the Arbok I felt… stronger.

Aqua quickly used Double Team and surrounded the shocked Arbok and all copies moved in to finish off the Arbok while the real Aqua attacked with an Ice Beam knocking it out and ending the battle once and for all. We weren't however in the all clear; there was still the matter of the old man. He was hurt pretty bad, so we had to find some way to help him.

"Hey, are you alright?" I approached the old man, checking his wounds on his legs. He was elderly man probably in his sixties, thinning gray hair, glasses. He had a short moustache covered in mud from the fall. Wearing a brown jacket, striped red and black buttoned shirt. Jeans with a lot of wear and tear on them look kind of old. And boots… probably older than the jeans he was wearing.

"Uhn… feels like pins 'n needles stabbing me in my legs… thanks for the help…" The man looked up to see Aqua and me, and no other in sight apart from the knocked out Pokemon. "Huh? C-could've sworn I heard a voice nearby… that's odd."

"Uh sir, are you alright?" The man suddenly yelped in surprise after hearing me talk. I shouldn't be surprised, I almost forgot about it.

"The heck? Y-y-y-y-you just talked? Or did I hit my head too hard when I fell?"

"Is he okay?" Aqua asked as she walked up to me after patching his wounds up.

"Ah! Oh. Phew, it's only an Oshawott… speaking normally. Thank goodness, I thought I was losing my mind there for a second. A talking Pokemon… well that Oshawott patching me up was one thing, but a talking Pokemon would've taken the cake." he shook his head. "That would be something."

"Excuse me, but are you okay?" I asked again. He paused for a moment, expecting a scream from him any second now, he instead fainted.

"I'm guessing that would be a 'no' then."

* * *

****

**Village Bridge **

The man a little sooner regained consciousness, almost fainting once more after hearing me talk. After patching up his wound after reopening them again, jumping at the sight of a Dewott speaking the language of a human, we helped him up and told him that we were passing through the route until we heard him scream, so we helped him against the wild Pokemon.

"I guess it was only natural for me acting like that; me shocked at hearing a Pokemon able to speak the human language is something that ain't common around here." The man limped as we were getting closer to the Village Bridge. "Oh by the way, the names Gerald, I live in Village Bridge with my wife Martha. We run a café together. Since you both saved my hide out here, ya gettin' a free meal. You both look like ya could use a good meal."

"No, you don't have to do that."

"No, no, I insist. Ever since the beginning of the week, many of us village folk were attacked by these wild critters. We were kind of hoping someone would come along, like a trainer or something to help deal with the problem we've been having." Gerald smiled. "But taking out all of them Pokemon like that would surely put a smile on the folks back at home. Can't tell ya how happy we'll be once I give them the news we'll be safe from them."

"It sounds like these Pokemon have been causing a lot of trouble for you guys."

"Oh yes, a lot during the week, more than I can ever count." Gerald nodded, finding a street light to lean against to rest a little. "Burning down a building, attacking villagers, even messing with our crops. But with everything they throw at us we quickly fix up. Probably would've been tough to recover if we didn't have the resources."

After his rest by the street light, Gerald guided us through the last part of the route and into the Village Bridge, a village built on top of a huge bridge. Not sure of the history of this village, but I believe it had something to do with a flood that had washed away the old village built below. Like Gerald said, we saw the crops to the right of the bridge, a little damaged and being tended to by several people. Gerald walked us up at least a quarter up the bridge until we stopped outside a café; 'Lotus Café' a two-story timbered building with stained glass windows with beautiful flowers hanging outside them. And above the wooden door was the sign of the café with a list of meals available today on a sign beside the door.

"Welcome to the Lotus café, passed to me by my father in the sixties. Yep, this café was one of the first buildings built here passed down from generation to generation with one purpose; cooking food and drinks for travellers. It ain't much, it ain't popular worldwide, but we do get a lot of interesting folks here and kind regulars from time to time." The door of the Lotus café opened and out came an elderly woman possibly the same age the Gerald wearing a striped blue dress and white apron. Her hair set up in a neat bun looked to be covered in what appeared to be flour.

"Gerald, now where have you been?" She marched right up to him and quite fast for a woman her age. "You know very well not to be out there with your leg all busted up from those pesky Pokemon. And look at that, you are both injured again and you have two Pokemon following you." She said as she pointed her finger at the both of us.

"I know that already, but I had to find help. The endless attacks from the Pokemon the past week have caused quite the scare amongst us. Long story short, I was attacked by the same Pokemon we saw the other day, but these two saved my life. I would not be standing here if not for them."

The woman I assumed to be Martha looked back down at us. Aqua for a short time, and then at me longer than she did while looking at her. "Why are they following you? Don't tell me you convinced them to help us?"

"Even better!" Gerald chuckled. "They already did the job. These two defeated the Pokemon and I brought them back for a little reward; a free meal on the house!"

She sighed, but then smiled. "I see. I suppose the others would be happy to hear about that." Martha knelt down towards our level, extending her arm out to pet us. "Now then, would you two like to come inside and have a little treat?"

"Yeah!" Aqua cheered something Martha or Gerald could not understand, but obviously knew she said yes.

"Thanks." I smiled something all of them could understand. Not a surprise to Aqua, a little bit shocked and surprised still by Gerald, but Martha completely shocked. It took a while for her to settle down. To sit down and explain the situation without giving her a heart attack.

* * *

****

**Village Bridge – Lotus Café**

I explained to the old couple about what we were doing and what how dangerous our journey had been thus far. We couldn't tell them how I could talk to humans, why I was a white Dewott with black and red eyes, or how I ended up like this because we didn't know. I woke up with no memory on the beach near Castelia City and brought into a gang of horrible Pokemon.

"I see, so that's your story." Martha nodded slowly. "And these Pokemon, they're dangerous? And they're after you and Aqua?" Aqua and I both nodded. "Are these Pokemon that have been attacking the village be the same Pokemon who are looking for you two?"

"I don't think so. Purrloin and her gang are only focused on trying to find us, not go around and attack humans or their territories." I remembered what Purrloin told me once when we still lived in her hideout. I was on a walk with her around the hideout and she told me about confrontations she has had with humans in the past. She lost most of her crew and during a scavenging run. She also told me about the revenge attack she planned out, but were unsuccessful in that attack and lost even more of her Pokemon. So she then settled on a new rule for the hideout; 'never approach humans' refusing to approach them no matter how risky it was. I just hoped that was the case still and these Pokemon weren't involved with Purrloin.

"Hope these trouble makers ain't following you two too much." Gerald leaned back in his chair next to Martha. "I'm sure they'll give up in no time and head on back to wherever it is they hail from."

"And Nuvema Town is where you are from? Right?" Martha asked. "That's going to take you both about a week or two to travel. Is that where your trainer is?"

"I believe so, yeah. I think my family and friends are there also waiting for us to return home."

"Ah, family is important, and so are friends."

Martha went behind the counter and into the kitchen to fix us up a meal and some supplies for the road plus refill on water. The food Martha got for us were cupcakes, a bowl full of fresh berries, apples, Poke Puffs, and Poffin's with a delicious serving of Oran Berry juice.

I know I said I wanted to keep moving on and not stay in one place for too long. But the Oran Berry juice kind of won me over. After all, we did travel far and we could use the rest before we started going again. The running nonstop and the battle we had with those Pokemon before kind of worn us out a little. Plus we needed to restock on our supplies.

Suddenly we heard a knock on the door, opening up a second later as a man in his mid thirties entered the café. He was really tall, almost had to duck underneath the door frame. He was wearing a gray jacket, cargo pants, and black boots covered in dirt. His skin was dark. Scars on his upper lip and nose. The man's name was Danny; he helped by protecting the village with his friends. Chased after thieves that steal from the shops, tries to keep the peace.

"Hey, have I caught you at a bad time?" Danny said as soon as he saw Gerald's bandaged leg up on display with it resting on a chair.

"Of course not. Come on in." Gerald gestured for him to enter and take a seat next to our table.

"Thanks man. What happened to you?"

"Injured by those wild Pokemon while searching for some help." Gerald kept his smile up while patting his own leg, wincing a little as he did so.

"Ouch. Was it worth it?"

"I can say it was. These Pokemon here, you can thank them. I was down, almost ready to go to the next world. But then they came jumping into battle and took out every last one of 'em faster than they arrived. We won't be seein' those Pokemon anyone, I can tell ya that! Oh and get this," he chuckled, pointing at me "Go on, Zack, talk to Danny here. Tell 'im!"

"Uh, yeah. He's right about that." Danny gasped, almost stood up from his chair.

"W-what the heck? He spoke?" Gerald immediately told him the story that was going on with Aqua and I. His reaction after like Martha's before was one of shock and surprise. "Huh, now how about that. Are you still a water type? Or are you a different type from the blue Dewott's here in Unova?"

I shook my head. "I do know water type moves. I have been attacked by electric type moves before and they do hurt a lot. But I don't know if I am capable of learning other moves as of yet."

"Heh. My nephew would love to have you and Aqua on his team. The boy just loves water types. But since you two are on an important journey to reunite with your loved ones, I'm guessing that'll be a no then."

"Ah!" Martha suddenly yelped as she rushed towards the front window to take a peek outside.

"Darn it! Why'd ya have to yell like for?" Gerald flinched in his seat as his wife's sudden yelp.

"The café! Didn't ya notice when Danny walked in? He's a customer ain't he?"

"Ah, you're right about that? And since it'll be eleven that's when the customers, especially the regulars will all be coming in." Gerald clapped his hands together, before attempting to stand up. But was quickly held down by his wife.

"Oh no you don't. Not until that leg of yours has healed up. Don't want you carrying food in your condition. So you just stay behind the register taking in orders while I prepare the food and drinks, and serve the costumers."

"Are you sure you can do all of that, Martha?" Danny crossed his arms as he raised his eyebrow, unsure if Martha could handle that much work "Because last time you did that much work you almost busted one of your legs. Carrying that much food for seven customers at once and you almost dropped them all. Almost soaked and scalded all of your favorite customers, and would've probably lost a good few."

"Alright, alright. So what should we do? Close down the place for now?"

"Now hold up now! Ya can't do that." Gerald raised his hand up. "Opening up the café now would be a great idea for several reasons!"

"And they are?" Martha asked, leaning her hand on the table in front of Gerald.

"Well for starters we gotta sell more of the food left over before the new batch arrives tomorrow. And also this'll be a good way for us to tell the village that we won't be bothered by those pesky vermin no more. We gotta let 'em know who the heroes are."

"But how are ya gonna open up the café if your leg's busted? Don't tell me you're going to leave everything to Martha?"

"Maybe we could help." I spoke up, everyone in the room turned to me. I'm not sure why I did that. Maybe it was 'The Savior' in me that did that, always willing to help others, or maybe it was the Oran Berry juice doing something to my head… I dunno. "You guys have been through a lot with these Pokemon running amok, so we'll be glad to help out."

"Sure, of course." Aqua agreed. "So, what should we help with?"

Only I could understand her, but the others assumed she only said 'I'm with Zack' or something. But then Martha placed her index finger and thumb beneath her chin. "Hmm… I think I have a job for you two."

Gerald worked behind the register, taking in orders and handling the cash. Martha in the kitchen preparing the food and drinks to the customers. And for Aqua and I came another important job; serving the customers the plate of food and drinks while keeping the place clean. Well, for me it was carrying the plates of food and drink while Aqua made sure the place was spotless.

"Alright, Danny here will be our first customer." Martha pointed at Danny sat at one of the tables near the door as he waved at us. "He has already placed his order, once you see me by the kitchen door to pass down the plate to you, either one of you bring it to the customer. Also, try and keep the place clean. There are litterers from time to time. Try as we may, there is always one or two leaving a candy wrapper or dirt on the floor." Martha handed me a plate of food Danny ordered. It didn't weigh much and was easy to carry. But one thing I had to be careful of was the customers in the store and the path towards the customer, wet floor, someone's foot in the way and I could fall over thus spoiling the food, or knock into a chair or table if I'm not careful. So I carried the plate while watching out for hazards and objects that would cause me to lose my balance and drop the food. "Nice work Zack. You're already a natural. Now once you are done, return back to the counter and carefully watch if customers have an issue or with their order, or they want something more."

My work as a waiter was easy, the practice I mean. But the real work would begin once more customers arrived, and they did… a lot of them. Order after order and I waited nervously for the food to be handed down to me so I could give the customers their order. The first tray I was given was to a couple sitting beside the café window. Lattés I think they were having. But I had to carry the tray with the drinks on top without spilling them, and on my first official try too, and that alone was giving me anxiety. Not wanting to mess this up and anger the customers, and losing customers for Gerald and Martha, I tried to focus on getting to the table.

Thankfully I arrived after what seemed like it had taken me forever. Held up the tray for them to take the cups and took the tray back to the kitchen. Although I spilt a little on the tray, they didn't seem to mind. But I had to get better at it if I wanted to make a good impression.

The next customer, a man wearing a construction uniform entered and walked up to the front counter. He was a regular at the café and good friend to both Gerald and Martha. He was stood at five foot, a little overweight with a long black beard that reached right down his chest. He seemed to get along well with everyone else.

"Clancy how's work on the bridge? Any problems with it this time?"

"The repairs are looking good. Thought we were looking on having this bridge evacuated for a few hours, but it looks as though the bridge will hold. Keeping this bridge still holding up after all these years, boy I tell ya, it sure does take out a lot of ya." Clancy chuckled while stretching out his arms.

"The usual today?"

"Sure. Gotta keep my strength up for the next four hours." After returning the tray back near the kitchen, that was when Clancy noticed me and whispered to Gerald asking about why there were Pokemon working here in the café. So long story short and after the same reaction I had from Gerald, Martha, and Danny, Clancy reacted the same way, took a little time to get used to seeing a Dewott speak human language.

"It takes some time getting used to. But besides that, Zack and Aqua have been a huge help to the village." Gerald wrote down the next order for Martha to prepare in the kitchen.

"So you two helped save the old man here?" Clancy asked me.

"Yeah. We were travelling through route 11 when we heard Gerald cry out for help. We came running and defeated the Pokemon and brought him back to the village."

"Well how about that. See, didn't I tell ya help would come along sometime soon? Wait a minute! Now don't tell me you 'rewarded' them by making you work here, did you?"

"Of course not! I gave them a free meal. They offered to help us in the café."

"Zack, take this to table four." Martha handed me a tray of food for two. I carried the tray over to table four without any problems. I was quickly getting used to this job as a waiter, I was spilling things less, aware of my surroundings, listening and watching out for customers who needed an order checked.

The people in the café spoke to me, wanting to hear me speak their language. They were shocked, surprised, but they quickly got used to it. I saw Aqua with a family and their two children playing with her. Watching her being picked up and played with like that made me feel jealous that her job had most of that, relaxing and carried, while my job only involved staying on my feet all day, carrying trays of food, cautiously watching where I walked and talking to people… on second thought it wasn't that bad. But it would've been nice to have some of that.

When I returned to the counter after placing the tray back near the kitchen that was when I heard Clancy and Gerald talk about Aqua and me. "The two are being chased by some horrible Pokemon. Trying to kill them I think." Gerald said quietly to Clancy as they talked by the counter, but from where I was I could still hear everything they were saying.

"That's terrible. I wish there was some way we could help them."

I listened in to what they were saying for quite some time before another order was placed and I had to give the customers there food. The people here were really nice, and I would hate to see Purrloin come here, having learnt that Aqua and I were here, possibly hurt them if Purrloin decided to abandon the no human approach rule of hers.

But there was only one thing they could do to help.

A few hours into the work and it was decided we would have lunch before closing up for the day. Gerald needed his rest, and the supply of food in the back was almost gone. So this was a good chance for us to rest. Martha was surprised that today saw a boost in sales, twenty percent more than they have had in the past. Either it was the celebration that the Pokemon that had troubled the village were defeated and gone for good, or it was the rare sights of a white Dewott who can speak the human language, with an adorably cute shiny Oshawott who would love to sit on your lap or play with you. Or maybe people just felt like ordering more food today. Whatever reason, take your pick; the café had raised a lot more money.

With everything well stocked for our travels, all we needed to do was rest a little more and prepare for the next area. But then we heard a commotion outside, with people running towards the west side of the bridge. We jumped out of the seat and approached the window to see people gathering.

* * *

****

**Village Bridge**

Down by the western exit stood were almost all the village folk armed with broomsticks, frying pans, anything that might do some damage against the many Pokemon who stood at the entrance of the village ready to strike at any moment, but they didn't. Aqua and I ran to the crowd to investigate, hearing the crowd trying to scare off the Pokemon, others pleading to leave them alone, while a few planned out loud on their plan of attack.

Five Arcanine's, four Growlithe's, four Arbok's, and three Sandslash's stood with their teeth bared, and claws held high ready to strike. The moment we stood in front of the crowd that was when the Pokemon backed off. Then an Arcanine cried. "T-those are the same P-Pokemon who attacked us earlier! I thought I saw them go towards the village with the old man!"

The Arbok slithered a few feet towards us, but staying far out of range. This one unlike the other three Arbok's had several long scars across its face. I could only assume this Pokemon out of the others was the leader "So you are assisting these foolish humans then? Hmph. No matter. The humans can have Pokemon after Pokemon at their disposal, a trainer or two to fight us off, but we will have what we came here for; food to last us the coming harsh winter."

"Why can't you find your own food out in the wild? We saw a lot of berries and more in route 11. You don't have to hurt these people and steal from them." I stepped forward, paw hovering slightly over my scalchop.

"But we like the food the humans have in this village. The food is fresher, has more variety to it. The food out in that route is controlled by stronger Pokemon than us. We couldn't handle their power, so we fled to try something else. Humans are weak, we are strong. They can't handle our power. " The Arbok's Pokemon agreed with him, hissing and growling at the humans. "So I will give you and the Oshawott a chance and only one chance; stand aside and allow us to take our food. Or you will-" The Arbok didn't finish his sentence. Instead, a familiar voice behind the Pokemon yelled out.

"Whoa, totally outrageous! A reunion with the same two pathetic water types who messed me up bad? Who'd expect that?" And of course the Beedrill we met outside Driftveil City, the same one who poisoned me was back, flying above the Pokemon as he flew closer toward us covered in scars from the past battle.

"Jeez, him again?" Aqua groaned."

"Why do you have to speak like that, you nitwit!?" The Arbok yelled at the Beedril. "Don't you realize how stupid you sound? 'Totally' 'bogus dude' I mean, c'mon, who speaks like that?"

"Whoa dude, don't tell me you are dissin this totally awesome Beedrill right here bro. Cause if ya are, then you and your buddies are totally going to get 'surfed up!'"

"What does 'Surfed up' mean?" questioned one of the Sandslash's, but it was never answered, yet ignored by the others and Beedrill.

"Anyway, like I was sayin' before this totally awesome dude was outrageously interrupted," he said pointing to himself with his pincers. "I'm back, baby. And this time I brought friends to help settle the score. Ya see, when I was blasted off into the horizon, I came up with this cool plan to get revenge on you two. Got myself some uh… so-and-so cool dudes to party it up with. Didn't expect to be runnin' into you two anytime soon. Ya know, set up an actual bond first so we'll be ready to knock the both of ya out like in an instant! But first this cool Beedrill had to give help to get help if ya know what I'm saying-"

"That's just about it!" The Arbok snapped. The sudden yell from the Arbok caused the Beedrill to flinch. "That's all you do every single time; talk. You never stop with it. We only care about getting food for the winter; you promised us it if we helped you by defeating powerful Pokemon you claim they are we would be all set. But ever since you came here to us, it's 'dude this, dude that, whoa, like are ya trippin' dude?' it is annoying! Hearing all of that from you is making all of us want to silence you instead!"

"Whoa, hombre. Relax. Take a chill pill or somethin' to help set your mind at ease, dude."

The Arbok growled, and ordered the rest of the Pokemon. "Screw this! Kill the annoying Beedrill and the two water types! Then this village will be defenseless against us!"

Immediately, Aqua and I stood together and readied our moves as the sixteen Pokemon all charged right at us including the Beedrill still frozen in shock after what he felt 'Betrayal beyond belief' or something.

Like the first time we faced them, we didn't have to worry about types here, our types being it water could handle them. But only this time there were more to battle, more poison types and a bug type might I add trying to kill us.

The Arcanine's were the first ahead of the charge using Tackle and Ember. I was hit by the Tackle while Aqua was hit by the Ember. We quickly separated and managed to draw in at least half each to face. I took down two of them with Razor Shell one after the other surprisingly quick, and so was Aqua. It was possible these Arcanine's and the other Pokemon were the same ones we fought, but they didn't heal in time for the battle.

Two of the Sandslash's, two Arbok's, and the last Arcanine faced the Beedrill, cornering him against a set of trees. Despite the number of Pokemon he was facing, he seemed to laugh at their attempt and fought them off with his moves, quick enough to face us or the Arbok leader. The last two Sandslash's attacked us, one using Sword Dance, the other using Dig and dug deep into the ground. Aqua used Ice Beam on the Sandslash. The move did a lot of damage to it, but not enough to render it defeated. So the two of us ran at it to finish it off. Making it halfway was when the second Sandslash decided to make a comeback and attack us from below, hurting the both of us and pushing us back. The two Sandslash's moved in using Fury Swipes and Slash, but with a quick roll to the side we got them both by using Razor at them and defeating them both at the same time.

"Run the water types over. Cut through the humans and take our food from them!" The Arbok leader hissed, ordering the Growlithes' to attack us. The Growlithes' did so by running at us readying their attacks, but stopped midway. Then quickly they fled back into route 11 where they came.

"That's right! We ain't gonna let you through!" Looking back over my shoulder, I saw most if not all of the people stand their ground armed with their weapons. The other Arbok behind the leader gulped and slithered as fast as it could away and back into route 11.

"What's up… amigo?" Beedrill growled at the Arbok leader. Already the Beedrill had defeated the Pokemon Arbok sent after it. a quick battle, one I would've wanted to see how he did so and what other moves he had before he would face us to give Aqua and I at least some preparation.

"Y-You defeated them already?! How is that possible?"

"I told you that the moment we met, dude; never mess with a Beedrill, even on one of its good or bad days… literally everyday is when you should mess with one." All of us stood several feet away, Beedrill flapped in one corner, the Arbok leader in the other, while Aqua and I stood readying our moves

"Bah! Forget the food! I will just have to feed on your corpses instead! Starting with you, you annoying Beedrill!"

The Arbok attacked first by shooting itself at Beedrill, but missed when Beedrill used Agility to evade the attack. "Hah! Too slow old timer!"

"You! I will kill you for this! And it won't be pretty!" The Arbok tried to attack Beedrill with Poison Sting, but again he quickly evaded the move and only laughed some more until he attacked Arbok with Twineedle once and then twice.

Aqua and I moved in, attacking the two with Scald and Surf damaging the two, but carefully keeping our distances while battling them not wanting to be poisoned.

Expecting the duo to turn to us and attack us instead of each other, only the Beedrill turned. "Don't think I've forgotten about you two. Just gotta deal with the slimy giant purple rope thingy first!" The Arbok bit deep into the head of Beedrill by using Bite, but was quickly knocked off by another Twineedle by Beedrill.

Aqua and I moved in once more, dead set on ending this. Aqua moved to the left and I to the right as we moved in. Aqua and I used Razor Shell and attacked the two continuously, altering our attacks with Scald, and Surf becoming one as a Surf + Scald ball combination until the two were trapped inside the ball of water. And with one final strike by the two of us, we jumped up as high as possible and together we used Razor Shell onto the water ball as it exploded upon impact, sending the two Pokemon flying in opposite directions.

The Arbok leader screamed as he was sent flying south of here further away from Beedrill. The Beedrill was sent flying once again somewhere far north from here, disappearing from over the trees and towards the mountain.

As silence quickly fell onto the Village Bridge as soon as the battle had finished, the people behind us erupted in cheers as the village was safe once more.

* * *

It had been some time since the celebration began in the Lotus café, another one since the troubles with the wild Pokemon were no more and the village was finally safe. The celebration began with cheers, free drinks served at the café that were mostly sodas and caffeine, and finally eating with friends and family. A celebration brought a large gathering by the café.

As for Aqua and I, we couldn't stay here any longer. We could draw attention to this village, and Purrloin and her gang would come for us and once again this village wouldn't be safe. We had to leave. So with our supplies packed in the bag, we quietly set off out of the back of the café towards the village exit to the east.

At the café the celebration was nearing its final stage, something the village folk had at the last minute planned to get me and Aqua together to honor us as their heroes for saving the day. Martha searched around the café for us, to let us know that everyone was waiting for them, but she never did. Instead she found something else; something I thought would take them a while to notice after we left.

"A letter?" Martha picked up the letter and began to read. All it said on it was that Aqua and I had to leave and wished them well. Perhaps if I wrote more on the letter it would prevent them from chasing after us, which they did.

We had reached the bottom of the bridge, ready to walk into route 12 until we heard the crowd of people including Gerald and Martha from the café catch up with us, most shouting for us to wait. We did and looked back and the crowd stopped.

"Wait a sec, hold on!" Gerald called after us as he and the rest of the people we had known during our stay stood at the exit of the bridge. "You don't have to leave. You can stay here with us. It's a safe place for you two to live here. You said so yourself, you are being chased by Pokemon who might end up killing you. Please don't go."

I turned around back at them. "This place really is a good place. You, your wife, everyone, you are all good people. Which is why we can't stay. Being here would risk all of your lives. We have to leave, and I need to go back home. I'm sorry. Forget we were ever here. Don't tell anyone about us, because it may mean your lives could be at stake. Thank you for everything. Goodbye."

With one last look at the village folk, Aqua and I waved to them one last time before walking across the rest of the bridge and into the next area.

"Wait-" Gerald tried to run after us, but was stopped by Martha, holding him back. "Uh, Martha?"

"Gerald. Zack and Aqua, they need to return home. Zack has family waiting for him where he belongs. They must be worried sick about him. Purrloin and her gang are searching for them. Keeping them here would only put everyone else here at risk. So not a word by anyone about Zack or Aqua being here can ever leave this village. Don't want word to get around, especially to the Purrloin that they were ever here."

"I reckon they'll be fine." Danny added, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We can't do much against Pokemon. We ain't trainers. Now I don't know much about Pokemon, but I can tell ya one thing; Zack and Aqua, they're a team, a dang strong team if I say so. The way they fought off that many Pokemon at once was incredible. If their teamwork is like that from now until they reach home, they should be alright getting back safely."

"What makes you say that?" Clancy asked.

"Just a hunch I have." He smiled, and the elderly couple, Danny, Clancy and the rest of the village watched and waved at us as walked away from the village and disappear through the bushes leading into Route 12.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Originally this chapter would've been a two part chapter but with an added story of a 'what if' scenario played out. The two would ask themselves the pros and the cons about staying in the village and helping out at the café. But in the end, the two would decide on leaving the village to go back to Nuvema Town, back home.


	26. Chapter 26 Beginning of the Experiments

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in the uploading of the stories. it's been really slow so far meaning i didn't know how to fill in the gaps between now and until the end section of the story. Kind of like writer's block for me but on and off at times. ****But good news is i believe i have found out how to do it, how to complete the story i want to tell and move on from there.**

**Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading and take it easy out there.**

Chapter 26 – The Beginning of the Experiments

* * *

**Team Annihilation HQ – Laboratory B2 – Several months ago**

"The pros and the cons of The Doom Project, by Leo Valentine. The date is Wednesday first week into the fourth month." Leo recorded into his audio dairy as he paced the room lit by a single bulb. "The pros they can create a Pokemon from a human test subject, a Pokemon with altered fur/scale color than the original form. Their eyes are all different colors with black sclera in all of them. The reason for this has not yet been determined or if it has any possible side effects, but moving on. The forms they take for example; a Pikachu. True a Pikachu is electric, but should a human that has been given the Doom serum and changed into one; they will have another type into them, be it fire, water, dark, poison, and can use moves the original cannot learn. Doom subjects have a unique ability unique only to them. Abilities that can make them a fearful and powerful opponent, abilities like making one live a nightmare thus killing them, pyrokinesis the ability to control fire, effect with ones emotions, poison all foes, or in Mr Raines' case; absorb the energy of the defeated Pokemon thus killing them in the process."

Leo made a quick stop as he turned toward the chalkboard, empty but needed to be filled. He had work to do. Walking up to the chalkboard he wrote down the names, species, abilities, and types each member of the Team Doom Eight. All eight humans who have turned into Pokemon by the Doom Serum from the order they were created in:

Cornelius – Rayquaza –Sadness – Dragon/Water

Nathaniel – Pidgeot – Fire Manipulation - Fire/Flying

Ren – Dewott – Darkness – Dark/Water

Rose – Ninetails – Poison Field – Normal/Poison

Jessica – Mew – Living Nightmare – Psychic/Ghost

Martha – Charizard – Ice Manipulation – Fire/Ice

Henry – Regirock – All Paralyze – Rock/Thunder

Zack – Dewott – Strength Absorb – Water/Psychic

He placed the chalk down and took a step back, pressing the button on the diary to start his recording. "Each Pokemon has two types each. Moves they can learn but the original cannot not on some. Also, it has been supposedly proven by the other Annihilation Scientists that all members of the Team Doom Eight can live until they reach the approximate age of 200. Now if this is true remains to be seen for future generations to come. Also to note is that they can mate with other Pokemon and bare offspring. It would be interesting to see an offspring of the Team Doom Eight. Would they inherit abilities of the parent? But what kind of sicko would actually do that? Well, I suppose most of the Team Doom Eight would fit the part, those guys are nuts. Ahem, moving off track."

"Now for the cons. The exact ability, form they take and type they are varies from person to person with no control on what Pokemon they wish to take or what type they are. Also to point out, the subjects known as Zack Raines and Ren Raines, two brothers became Dewott's; a white Dewott and a Gray Dewott. Perhaps the reason they took the same form as the other had something to do with blood. That the Raines family all would've taken on forms of the Oshawott family depending on age. Yes, perhaps the form they take depends on the age they are. A young subject would perhaps change into a first stage, a teen/adult would perhaps take second or third, and older would take the last stage in evolution. At least that is what I gather…" Leo stared at the bored. Then after some time had passed he drew an 'X' right next to Cornelius.

"Cornelius Stone is a prime example of bad decision on who should become one of the Team Doom Eight. A bad choice based on his sadistic mindset, the way he views things as cruel and wants everything to die so nothing can ever make him sad anymore." Leo drew another 'X' but this time next to Jessica. "In some cases it is all about trust, can they even do the things we ask of them; kill or attack an enemy? Good people like Zack and Jessica before and after the transformation are kind people, the type who wouldn't give up. So what makes Shiny Latias think Zack will do what she wants him to? Control."

Leo wrote 'Shiny Latias' above the eight names and underlined it. "That is her ability she was granted upon her when she injected herself with the Doom serum. A very risky thing to do; injecting themselves with the serum as with most cases if a Pokemon were injected with the Doom serum they would enter the four stages; fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, and then death. Shiny Latias said before injecting herself 'It must be done.' and gave no other reason for it as to why she risked her life like that. And then she officially became the first ever Pokemon to survive the injection of the Doom serum."

"Speaking of which; for months I have tried replicating my own formula for the Doom serum, but so far I have not come close. Something is missing, something those morons back at HQ will not reveal to me no matter how many times I try. But what would I need? Humans as test subjects? Pokemon fur, skin, blood? Rare herbs? Damn it! If only the files containing the information about the serum, how to make it was in my hands, then I would've have far more than eight humans into Pokemon Team Annihilation want. At least I was fortunate to have one vial… but that alone isn't enough to help me find out how to recreate the formula. But it did help me perhaps create something special."

* * *

**Team Annihilation Hidden Laboratories – Several Year's Ago**

In the lab were a single table in the center of the room with vials and tools at the side with a bright light hanging underneath. Several cages full of Pokemon wearing a collar to prevent them from ever using their moves. Leo pressed the button of his audio diary to record. "Today I will begin the test on a Pokemon we have collected from Castelia City. Recently it was attacked by Juro, leader of Team Annihilation with his test monsters known as Reanimated Corpses, beings brought back to life through his experiment to create an undead army. The new team Juro has created is called Team Doom; a new team consisted of several members from Team Annihilation to take over should Annihilation fall under the hands of the enemy. With Shiny Latias, Juro's pet he adopted when her parents attacked helped her daughter, Latias escape as well as other Pokemon to become the leader."

Leo walked over to one of the cages, opened it and carried a shiny female Oshawott onto the table. Strapping her down so she couldn't try to escape. "Team Doom have created the Doom Serum, a serum once injected into a human can turn them into a Pokemon. They have created twenty vials in all. Eight to be used on key members of Team Annihilation, and one to be used to kill the remaining seven to absorb their powers said to become strong enough to be able to take over the region."

He picked up a needle and small vial and took out a small amount from it. "What I have here is the last vial of the Doom serum, and I am using it on this Oshawott. In the past I had over one hundred Pokemon at my disposal. So I injected them with the serum hoping for at least something out of them… but sadly nothing but sickness first and later death is all that happens to these Pokemon once I give them the injection. I had to find the correct dosage to use on them, too much would kill them. Every injection I had given them feels as though I am just throwing the serum down the toilet. The Doom serum is tough to replicate, maybe impossible despite over a thousand attempts at it but still nothing. I would ask with reason to make more for our army, they decline every time. With the last injection, I can only hopes this will be it that'll be a success and not end in this Pokemon's death. I believe with the amount I am going to give the Oshawott may be enough so that'll live and grant us a Pokemon with a new ability from which the likes no one has ever seen before." Leo carefully injected the last of the serum into the Oshawott. And then he waited for the first sign of the symptom which was shivering and then vomiting. Usually it would take ten to twenty minutes for the first sign to show, but as the minutes passed the symptoms never showed, the Oshawott was still alive and well. His heart began beating rapidly, excitement for the first time in months as a broad smile plastered his face. "H-h-h-h-has it worked? Have I finally found a Pokemon that can survive the serum?" He placed his fingers up to the neck of the Oshawott to feel for a pulse, checked her temperature, everything to make sure the Oshawott would survive.

Leo looked over at the cages and noticed most of them were conscious. But two Pokemon he saw were the parents of Oshawott he had strapped to the table. "Your daughter is alive if you wanted to know." He smiled. "Your daughter has just survived an injection that has killed so many of our Pokemon too high to count. You should consider yourself lucky that it was the last of the serum. But if the Oshawott does have a new ability, luckily for me I'll still use you to attack the Oshawott to find out what ability it has."

Leo remembered that day, the day the Oshawott survived the serum it was injected with. But as the days passed, the Oshawott never showed any sign of change. No new ability, no moves learnt apart from just Tail Whip and Tackle. 'It's young, so I'll have to wait until it grows up into a teen until I know for sure.' Is what he said believing the ability would show up as the Oshawott had matured. Tests from immunity to various elements, reactions to certain things; violence and death didn't affect her in the way that would start up her ability if she had any.

"One night I was alerted that the lab was destroyed and most of the Pokemon were escaping, so I ran down there to find the place set up in flames. A Charmander had set fire to the place after finding a way to take off the collar and escaped the place together with other Pokemon. Soldier's shot at them, managed to get four of them despite my orders not to kill them, yet they still did. But something has baffled me to this day, a sight I still have trouble believing. Escaping into the bushes was the Oshawott I had experimented on, injected with the Doom serum yet showed no signs of change. A solider took aim at the Oshawott with its back turned to us trying to escape with her parents. But before the soldier fired, at that last moment the Oshawott quickly dodged out of the way. A shot if hit would've been fatal. He shot again, and before the Oshawott dodged that shot by quickly stepping quickly to the side. The soldier fired one last time right at its leg, but again the Oshawott dodged them all before escaping with her parents. Luckily for me there was a camera that managed to catch the moment. A lucky dodge I would've said at first dodge, but twice in a row… either Arceus was on her side or something. The third shot… something was odd about that. Three shots one after the other, and it dodged them all. Then I started to think back to when I injected the Doom serum into the Oshawott. It wasn't sick, it didn't act different. Did the serum do something to it? Was that an ability it was using? Or was it luck?"

* * *

**Castelia City – Present Day**

In his tent, Leo recorded in his audio diary while examining the notes his soldier's have brought him. "For years now, I have searched the region for a shiny female Oshawott, Dewott's and Samurott's. Trainer's Pokemon searched when they have had those Pokemon of the same line, but none of them are the same. We had taken that Oshawott and its family from this city, and yet years later a shiny female Oshawott was sighted. As I would've liked to, I would've come to this city to search for the Oshawott with my soldiers. But since The Savior's were crawling everywhere at the time it would've proven to be quite difficult." Leo held up a photo of the shiny female Oshawott. "Purrloin by translations from Shiny Latias have said the Oshawott she brought in along with Zack Raines is named Aqua, and that her parents died somewhere within an alley in this city. If the corpses of the parents are still here and in good shape, I may manage to get a sample out of them and check if it is them or not." Leo smiled, but fell as he held up another photo. "But the Dewott is a problem. He has powers. Powers that'll make nabbing the Oshawott quite the difficult task. He has no memory of who he is, but that doesn't mean we can move in whenever we feel. He could reawaken any moment and kill us. But a Savior never kills… but he probably would since he is the last Savior member still active, and he probably has become attached to his new companion, so seeing her hurt or approached by us would set him off. Purrloin wants to kill the Oshawott, but it could very well be the same one from my lab, and we can't have that."

Leo set the other photo down and took hold of the Oshawott photo and smiled. "If it is you, if you are the same Oshawott that escaped from my lab, dodged those bullets I don't believe was luck, but an ability you may have… than the experiments will continue." Later that day, news would be presented to Leo that the bodies of the Oshawott's parents were recovered, and so he immediately went to work to test on them to find out if he really needed to be out in the field instead back in his lab at the new headquarters. But soon he would find out the Oshawott was indeed the same one that had escaped all those years ago, now travelling with Zack.

Leo removed a small vial of unknown liquid from his coat pocket and held it up to the light. He breathed in and sighed. "A risky thing indeed. I may end up dead by Shiny Latias for doing this, going against protocol, or I may have shifted the balance of the fight for control over the region. I may be powerful enough to get my hands on that Oshawott and defeat Zack… one injection is all it takes… and I will just have to learn the rest after."

To be continued...

* * *

**Trivia:**

Leo originally was a scientist working for someone else and not Team Annihilation. He had no involvement with them and was a side character who would appear in a few chapters trying to figure out what the Doom serum was and who it affected. Also it would be revealed later on that he was the same scientist who had taken Aqua and her parents to be used in experiments to try and recreate the Doom serum in some way.


	27. Chapter 27 Nightmares on Route 12

Chapter 27 – Nightmares on Route 12

* * *

****

**Route 12**

Walking with my feet on the soft grass I felt somewhat at peace, without any worry. It was the first time in a while I felt like this. Always watching over my shoulder for signs of the enemy, cautious of trainers nearby. And there I was walking happier and at peace… and that's when I realized something was really off about that. I stopped walking and finally looked to the side where Aqua usually is, but she wasn't there. I turned back to see if she had lagged behind A little in our walk… nothing. I noticed I didn't feel anything but at peace still. Something like this would've easily sent me panicking by now; I would be calling out to her and running back down the route desperately searching for her.

"Aqua?" That wasn't me who said that, but another voice behind me. I turned around to see a woman leaning against a tree. I had no idea who this woman was since my memory was all gone, but I knew this woman, she was my mom, Ayaka. Well not my biological mother, she adopted me when I was young. She was wearing a long red dress, a favorite dress she like to wear on special occasions, black heels with an excellent shine to them. The last time I saw her alive it was inside the kitchen back at home. She was killed by Shiny Latias, the one who injected me with the Doom serum turning me into a Dewott, made me lose all of my memory. "Is that your friend, Zack?" Then suddenly she burst out laughing. Laughing which was eerily founding similar to the way Shiny Latias laughed when she killed my mom. And then gasping at her throat until she stopped, letting her arms drop to her sides. Then I jumped at the sudden sound of a loud popping noise echoing above the trees. Then the woman fell to the ground. I quickly ran over to the woman, but once I did that, she faded into nothing. I stood there confused what had happened, who that woman was and what happened to her.

"Who was she?" I muttered, touching the ground where the woman once fell.

The scene suddenly changed, I was now standing on a really hot cement road heated up by the sun burning me. The weather was hot and dry. I was walking somewhere, but the road seemed to be endless and the same in both directions. There were no trees, only an endless desert. After some time of walking, I heard running behind. Two humans had quickly caught up with me and walked side by side. I looked up to see on my right, a teen, blonde hair and wearing a blue and white jacket with an old school uniform from Black City High School underneath torn and worn out like he had travelled in all kinds of terrain. To my left was a younger teen, a girl with short neck length black hair, wearing a black t-shirt, pants and sneakers. Isaac Anderson, and Sakura Kanai, they were my friends. We had known each other six years ago almost and quickly became friends after teaming up with me to help fight against Team Annihilation. Isaac wanted to find an herb to help understand Pokemon that his great-grandmother once found, and Sakura wanted to become a nurse to help Pokemon. Sadly, none of them ever did achieve their dream, they were both killed by Team Doom, a team Shiny Latias commanded and ordered them to make sure I would come after them.

"Ugh, I hate the heat…" Groaned Isaac as he wiped the sweat off his forehead using his jacket sleeve. I didn't remember who they were at the time, so to make it easier I'll refer to them by name instead of 'blonde haired boy' and 'black haired girl'. "Should've brought a bottle of water with us."

"In an hour we should be arriving at…." Sakura's last words were mumbled over the name of the place we were heading, so wherever we were heading remained a mystery. Although since the terrain we were in kind of did resemble the Desert Resort, so we could be heading either to Castelia City, or Nimbasa City. "… so we'll get some refreshers there. I'm thinking of a slushie. I know a really good place for them."

"Uh… w-who are you?" I asked them, but they didn't answer me. None of the things I asked them were ever answered. They said other things to continue with the conversation. "There was this woman in Route 12, I think she needs our help. Please you gotta-"

"See, Zack agrees with me. OJ is simply the best to drink when it's hot out."

"But I want a slushie." Sakura moaned. She then leaned down at me and shook my shoulder lightly. "Zack, come on. Be on my side and vote for some cool slushies, and not OJ."

But whatever they asked me, they remained in silence until I talked back. Whatever I said would advance the conversation, so I could just say whatever I wanted. "You're not listening to what I am saying. What's going on?"

"Aw man, I really wanted an OJ… *sighs* alright fine! But OJ after." Isaac once again wiped the sweat off his forehead with his jacket sleeve.

"_They seem like good people. I wonder who they are_." I said to myself as I looked up at the two walking beside me. _"Maybe one of them or perhaps the both of them were my trainers? What the heck is happening here? I'm in Route 12 one minute and the next minute I'm here… wherever this place is. Is Aqua alright?"_

I thought this to be another one of those dreams I keep having recently, about a life I forgot, people and Pokemon I knew well, places I had been to. Frightening, pleasant, death, laughter, and sometimes confusing things, things I was scared at first on wanting to know what they meant. 'Who was I before I ended washed up on the beach?' I asked myself. 'Who are these people to me?'

* * *

****

**Route 12 – Aqua's POV**

I was walking along Route 12 on the main path thinking about all of the different flavors of ice cream out there I haven't tried yet. New and wonderful flavors with so many toppings… it made my mouth water. I was probably thinking nonstop about ice cream for a long time until I realized I was alone. I stopped and looked back, Zack wasn't there with me, and he wasn't anywhere I looked. "Zack?" I began to panic, scared to be out alone and worried about Zack. "Zack, where are?" I called out as I ran back down the path, hoping he wasn't too far and I had just walked on ahead. _"Yeah, that's all it was. I was walking way too fast! He's further down, I can find him!"_

I ran as fast as I could, doubt taking over my hope I would find him. We weren't safe out here. Purrloin and her gang was dead set on finding us. The stories I heard about the methods she would use to search for whoever escaped her hideout; using wild Pokemon not part of her gang to help her due to some bargain, spies everywhere, in every corner of the region if that part was true, we were in danger. _"Why did I have to slow Zack down with ice cream?!" _I yelled at myself. _"Purrloin is after us, I shouldn't be side tracking on our journey slowing us down. If anything happens to him I can't forgive myself! Please let him be alright, please…" _I begged as I ran. Wanting him to be alright and we would be safe from Purrloin. I pleaded for him to be safe, and I would help him get back home without slowing him down than I had.

I had to pass the bushes to quickly get down the path. They were very close to the main path, so if I saw Zack somewhere on the path I would turn towards the main patch and catch up to him.

But when I neared a bush to get back onto the main path, I was grabbed on my arm by a Pokemon. "Well, well, look what we have here!" Purrloin, I knew that voice. Quickly I reached for my scalchop and wacked her arm with it to break free from her grip on my arm, backing away once I was free. There she was, like the last time I had seen her in the hideout, standing with that evil smile as she chuckled.

"Purrloin! W-what are you doing here?"

"Hm, now why am I out here? Oh yes, now I remember; I am here to bring you and Zack back with my gang, back home. My gang is hiding within the bushes, waiting for Zack to show up." She pointed at several bushes and trees, but I kept my eyes on her. "You have been a bad girl, a very bad girl for taking away my precious Zack from me. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That wasn't very nice you know. Do you know what happens to those who escape my hideout? My home? Well it's very simple you see… I make them wish they were never born." She stepped slowly towards me. I gripped my scalchop with both of my paws, ready to strike. "First I will do this when you are in my torture chamber. Then I will pierce your flesh with a scalpel. I will peel off your skin, pulling out your teeth with pliers; burn your flesh with hot iron, and so much more you'll be begging me to kill you. I know how to keep my victims alive for a long time; a year has been my record so far, so we'll have tons of fun you and I."

"Keep away from me!" I finally used Razor Shell and held it up high. "I'm not playing around here, so back off!"

"Or what? you'll kill me?" She laughed. "A weakling like you cannot kill me, let alone fight back when I was about to smash your head open with that hammer back at the hideout. But I would love to see you try and hit me. You'll only get hurt a lot more. So give up. Make it easier for the both of us." I waited for Purrloin to be standing directly in front of me, inches apart before I quickly slashed at her chest with Razor Shell… Purrloin looked down at her chest; she was fine, no injury or blood. I attacked her again; her stomach, arms, legs, but all my attacks didn't hurt her. I felt the attacks hit her with every strike, but she was still standing.

Purrloin pushed me over with both of her paws and stood above me, readying to use Shadow Claw. "I told you, you shouldn't have done that. You see, you are too weak to even inflict any damage to me. It was as though I was attacked by an annoyingly weak Beedrill with dull stingers who speaks with a 'dude' 'totally awesome' to each sentence." She spat. "I offered you a chance to go the easy way out. I would've gone easy on you if you hadn't resisted. If you played nice I would granted you a painless death, but you had to mess up my beautiful fur."

I tried to reach for my scalchop I had dropped, but Purrloin kicked it away with her foot. I tried to use my other moves, but she pressed her foot down on my arm so I couldn't perform Ice Beam or Surf to escape. "I'm going to put you to sleep. And by the time you awaken, you will find yourself in the last palce you will ever see alive." She pressed the Shadow Claw against my cheek. "Remember this route, the trees, the grass beneath you. Feel how soft it is. Take in the fresh air all around you; it shall be your last." I thought this was it, this was how our journey ended; me defeated by Purrloin and brought back to her hideout treated to her sick torture until I died. I tried to fight back, but for some reason I losing my strength to do so.

Then I noticed something above Purrloin's head I had never seen before, not even in her hideout. It was a Gastly watching us with bright glowing yellow eyes and with a huge grin on its face. How Purrloin didn't notice the Pokemon for how close it was next to her head or how it didn't bother her, especially the smoke dangerous to be around. Then it hit me, Purrloin… her eyes were a different color. Instead of green, they were yellow, the same as the Gastly. Also, the Shadow Claw Purrloin used wasn't purple, like her eyes and Gastly's all yellow. I pulled my arm off of Purrloin after finding my strength to come back to me, I quickly used Ice Beam at both Pokemon, phasing right through Purrloin, and hitting Gastly right in its face blasting it into a tree.

All of this was an illusion, a fake. Purrloin vanished, the trees began to shift and the whole scenery had changed and we were now in a clearing off the main path somewhere.

* * *

****

**Unknown Desert Area**

We continued walking through this desert, walking down a road that looked almost the same as it did when I first came here, like this road we were on seemed to loop in a huge circle. But of course none of them noticed or seem to care. They instead talked about the next place we were going and how excited they were on having some refreshing drinks and being out of the sun before they continued with whatever it was we were doing.

"After all of this is over with, after us five have finished with our quest, we're going to help Isaac with his quest, right?"

"Five of us?" I asked, but received no answer from anyone of them. I noticed there were three Pokeball's attached to her belt, and then at Isaac's belt with four Pokeball's. "There are only three of us here… maybe the rest are inside the Pokeball. But wait a minute! She has three Pokeball's and he has four. Does she mean other human companions I haven't met yet?" The five she was talking about were; herself, Isaac, Espeon, me, and Latias.

"Yeah, and our Pokemon can help out as well. A number that'll go way over the tens and into the teens. We'll speed up the search in no time." Isaac smiled. Instead of questioning everything they said out loud without having it answered, I listened in.

"_Did this talk down this desert path happen? Is this a memory?"_ I thought to myself, trying to remember.

"So we're going to start at the south of the region until we hit north? Or is it east to west? What's the plan on that?"

"I reckon we should start by going south and north. That way we finish close to my home city. Celebration back at my house once the quest is over, succeed or fail at finding the herb."

"You going to go to other regions, Isaac?"

"Maybe…" he sighed. "I'll have to look at my great-grandmas notes. See if I can find other clues about where the herb might be. She didn't travel to a lot of regions. Only Hoenn and Sinnoh. I'm thinking if I can't find this herb, I'll have to do something else."

"And we'll help you with that." I said without really thinking, almost automatically. It caught me by surprise. Maybe it was what I had said if this was a memory.

"Yep."

"Heh, thanks guys!" Isaac smile returned. Sakura giggled and returned talking about how good slushies were. She reminded me a lot about how Aqua constantly talks about ice cream every day. Being with them made me feel happy to be around. 

Then all changed when loud bangs filled the desert, and I jumped back in surprise. Looking everywhere as to what that noise, I didn't see anything other than endless sand everywhere I looked. Then Isaac clutched at his chest before falling face first into the road, then Sakura falling back. Quickly, I ran towards them, a bullet hole in their chests right where the heart would be.

"Sakura! Isaac!" I cried kneeling between them, trying to find a way to help them, call out to anyone that could help. But we were alone out here, no one around for miles from the looks of it except for the one who did this. They weren't breathing, they were dead. The life they had, their dreams, all taken away from them like that. So sudden. I clutched my chest and felt my heart beating fast, I begun to hear voices in my mind, too many voices all saying the same things over and over again; 'kill' 'find them and kill' and it wouldn't stop.

Thankfully, finally they did when everything all around me shattered like glass and the scenery changed from a desert road to Route 12 again. Instead of being on the main path, I found myself lying on the grass in a small clearing near the main road with a Gastly frozen against a tree, and Aqua running up to me.

"Zack, are you alright? I was so worried!" She rushed up to hug me after everything was back to normal. I hugged her back and comforted her that I was alright. But still a little shocked and frightened at what I had just seen.

"I'm fine. What about you?" She nodded her head. "That's good. Everything was all an illusion, it wasn't real."

"I saw Purrloin… d-did you see her too?" She asked, I shook my head. "She was… going to bring me back to her hideout… a-and… *sniff* it was awful."

"I saw humans, three of them. An older woman falling in route 12… or a fake version of it. And finally two younger humans, a teenage boy and a girl walking together in some desert area… until they were shot dead."

"Was that a memory you saw?" She asked, but I was unsure about that. Something felt strange about that to me. Ayaka didn't die in route 12, it was my home. And Sakura and Isaac it was near Opelucid City, not in the Desert Resort. Maybe my mind was mixing up places I had been before.

Our heads turned at the Gastly as the ice had thawed. He was on the ground against the tree still dizzy from the Ice Beam Aqua hit him with. It took some time for him to notice us standing in front of him both angry at what he had just did to us.

"What you did was cruel! The things we saw, what you made us see was beyond a joke!"

"Are you working for her? Did she send you to come after us?" Aqua demanded an answer from him as she picked up her scalchop and aimed it at him. "Did Purrloin send you?!"

"I-I don't know who you are talking about. I don't know you two. I'm not working for no one, honest!"

"Then why?"

"Uh I… I was just trying to have a little fun, that's all." He smiled nervously.

"So trapping us in that was 'fun' to you?" The Gastly hung its head low to the ground, ashamed of his actions.

"This Dewott is my friend and we have been through so much together" Aqua said as she placed the scalchop on her stomach. "When I met him, he lost all of his memory except his name. He was found injured on a beach covered in so many injuries and a left eye scratched out. I have been trying to help him take him back home and remember his past." She looked up at me. "From what he has told me so far… it sounds like he has lost a lot of friends. That's what he remembers more; death. We are being chased by a horrible Pokemon who want to kill us, and we don't need you pulling this kind of stuff on us!"

"Ah, you're right I did go too far…" The Gastly's expression turned to sadness as he looked down at the ground again, almost as if on the verge on crying any second now. "I have a terrible way of making friends, always have. I really want a trainer to come along and choose me to be their Pokemon, so I don't have to be alone anymore. I'm really sorry. Sometimes I go too far without realizing it most of the time. I didn't mean to upset you two."

"You were trying to make some friends?" Aqua asked. "Well you won't get friends if you keep scaring everyone like that. Especially the things you show them. But why do you do it?"

"I understand…" Gastly sighed sadly, "You see, several years ago I was once a Pokemon belonging to a trainer. We travelled a lot together and fought in many gym battles. We met when he was young. I haunted his house for some time until I was caught by him. Not by a Pokeball, but he found out who it was that was haunting his house. I tried to scare him but he found it funny, so that's what I did all the years I knew him since it made him happy. When he came of age, he asked if I wanted to come with him on his journey, so I did. My trainer once walked this route." He pointed towards river south of the entrance to Village Bridge. "My trainer saw a wild Pokemon he wanted to catch… he didn't catch the trainer, he lost his footing and… well, here I am all by myself. I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I just wanted to help a young trainer with his dreams on becoming a champion, I want to do the same for another trainer. I just don't want to be alone anymore." There was honesty I those words; he truly wanted to help trainers by battling.

"We can help you find a trainer, if you want us to that is." Gastly floated there with its mouth agape at what I asked. Aqua turned to me and lightly tapped my arm.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I mean if we don't help Gastly, he'll keep on scaring away a lot of people. We got to help." I don't know why we did this. Especially after what had just happened. Normally I probably would've attacked him and continued on. maybe it was the Savior in me wanting to help out. After all, I didn't sense the Gastly was a bad Pokemon.

"Hmm, you are right about that. But how will we find him a trainer?"

"Well, let's do some training of our own."

* * *

We found a little opening for us to help train the Gastly so he could find a trainer to take him with him. I stood in the center posing as a trainer, Aqua and Gastly hidden within the bushes pretending to be wild Pokemon, curious at the trainer and yet cautious.

I picked up this rock I had found and pretended it to be a Pokeball, and threw it up and down in my paw. "Okay, so here's the drill; you come up out of the bushes and approach the trainer. You'll most likely end up in a battle with the trainer; they bring out their Pokemon and try to catch you, if they want."

"If they want? You mean there's a chance they'll just battle me and leave after defeating me?"

"Well, maybe if you show them how good you are of a fighter, and then maybe they'll see how strong you are and give it their all and add you to their team. If not, well there is always next time."

Gastly shook his head and sighed. "This doesn't sound like a good idea to me… but alright I'll try."

Gastly left the bush and approached and instantly used Scary Face for ten seconds, giving me almost the full treatment of the duration of the move. I flinched back almost dropping the rock. "Uh, well that's one way you can go about it. You almost had me running there for a second. But don't overdo it. Your goal here is to challenge a trainer and wanting them to catch you, not have them run away screaming for their lives."

"Hmm… I'll reduce the time I use Scary Face by eight seconds. A little scare should start things off. I want to try and show the trainer I am strong by how big of an entrance I can give."

"Gastly, come back over by the bush and we can start again." Aqua called out for Gastly to come back and pretend hide, ready to start the training once more.

And so he did, and like before I stood in the center of the opening and pretended to be a trainer, but this time Gastly emerged out of the bushes by jumping and landing in front of me and immediately used Scary Face for two seconds max. Again, like with the first attempt, this made flinch back both, a little scared and shocked. The scare wouldn't be so bad if Gastly didn't jump in front of me so closely and did it further away. So we tried again, and the third time had Gastly try something else and less scary. Instead of jumping out, he slowly emerged out of the bush, looked at me and simply said "Boo."

This uh, this didn't really scare me at all or as see this as Gastly were challenging me to a battle. Maybe a little more scare into it and we'll see.

After a fourth and fifth time of Gastly's attempt to impress a trainer to get them to challenge and capture and take him with them, each getting a little better at maintaining a good amount of scare and approach, we were ready and set off to stay near the main path to wait for passing trainers.

"Ah, I don't know about this. I'm nervous about this, but what make you guys think anyone would choose me? I doubt anyone will ever pick me…"

"Don't be like that; I'm sure someone will choose you to be a part of their team." Aqua reassured the nervous Gastly. "You can do this. After all of the training we did before, trainers will be surprised and lining up to get a chance on adding you to their team."

This made Gastly smile, hopeful the next trainer we see would be the one. So we waited for a while until the first trainer came walking through the route. A five minute wait, thankfully not a long one. The first trainer was a man in his early twenties wearing mostly orange clothing, shoes, shorts, shirt, even the hair was orange. When the trainer neared the bush, Gastly glanced at us waiting for our approval. We nodded and gave him the all clear to go for it, hiding in the bushes so we weren't seen by the trainer or his Pokemon when they decide to bring them out to battle.

When the trainer was near, Gastly emerged from the bushes and announced. "Waaarh! I am Gastly. I challenge you to a battle!" using Scary Face after. This however was an unsuccessful attempt; instead the trainer gasped and backed off out of there running screaming for his life…

Gastly returned into the bush and sighed. "I got too excited about that one. I over did it. I just got to remember to stay calm, breathe, and don't scare them too much."

Round two on the waiting and trying again, but this time it had taken almost thirty minutes for the next trainer to walk down this route. A young woman wearing a white dress, long black hair trailing behind her as she carried a basket full of fruits. She was wearing a belt with two Pokeball's attached. "She looks promosing." Aqua pointed out. Gastly nodded and smiled as he prepared to move in, this time to go easy on his approach.

Gastly got out of the bush as the woman had walked past it. Gastly followed her behind for a few steps until he greeted her; "Hi, I'm Gastly. Wanna challenge me to a battle?" The woman turned her head back to get a look at the Pokemon behind her, seeing Gastly stare back at her with a wide smile. The woman like the first trainer threw up her arms in the air and screamed; "I'm not ready to be a trainer!" leaving us stunned at what we had just saw.

Gastly finally some time returned to the bush and sighed once again. "This is hopeless… so many trainers and none have even brought out their Pokemon to try and catch me."

"So many? There have only been two so far. Don't give up. You can still do this." I tried to encourage him, but all he did was sigh again and again while waiting for another trainer to run away from him.

So the third trainer came walking by after ten minutes. It was a little boy no older than ten. Probably just started his journey, and with two Pokeball's attached to the belt. Gastly would be a perfect addition to the trainers journey, but that all depended on how Gastly approached the boy. If he scared him he would run out of this route faster than the other two trainers, if not… hm, that hasn't happened yet when any of the trainers didn't find him to be a Pokemon worthy of being challenged yet.

Gastly watched the boy pass the bush we were hiding in, and then sighed as he calmly emerged from the bush. With a bored look as though he had given up on ever being chosen by any trainer out there. "My name is Gastly…"

The boy quickly turned to get a look at him floating in midair still with a bored expression plastered on his face. The boy stepped forward, and instead of screaming for his life, running as far away from here as fast as possible; the boy lifted his hands up and roared at the Gastly. This surprised Gastly and glanced at the bush we were in, and then back at the boy as he began to chuckle.

"Hi." He waved. "Sorry I can't battle ya, my Pokemon were defeated in my last battle." This again made Gastly sigh sadly and was about to float away and back into the bush. But surprisingly, something happened we didn't expect. "Wait, um, do you want to come with me?" The boy offered, holding up an empty ball to him. "Uh, I'm still new at this, and I don't know how to do it properly."

Gastly was at a loss for words, unsure how to do this; anxious he could blow this whole opportunity. Gastly then cautiously nodded slowly. The boy's smile grew and he cheered at what was his first successful catch of a wild Pokemon. The boy and Gastly walked side by side one another down the route were we could hear them laugh as they played with each other.

Aqua and I emerged from the bush and watched the two leave together down Route 12 leading them into the Village Bridge. "That was unexpected. I never thought we would be doing something like this." Aqua smiled. "So, ready to continue on our journey, Zack?"

I smiled. "Yeah, let's," and together we walked towards the next area.

I don't know what happened to the Gastly and his trainer after that, if they won any tournaments or became champion or not. But what I did know obviously is that Gastly wasn't alone anymore. He found a trainer he was happy with. And I can see that the two will get alone well. I'm sure his first trainer is watching over him, happy that Gastly is happy.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter originally had Gastly act as a villain in this chapter instead of a prankster looking for a trainer. In the end, the Gastly would fight the duo with it ending up defeated.


	28. Chapter 28 Flowers

Chapter 28 - Flowers

* * *

****

**Route 12**

Despite this route being somewhat a small one, it was home to some of the most beautiful of flowers growing here, especially in this field so close to the next area. The field was quite a large one, grass here and there, flowers growing everywhere; it was quite the spectacle to behold. There were several Pokemon in the flower field, but none took notice to our presence or seemed to care about us.

Aqua strayed off the main path and ran towards a small red flower patch and smelled them. "They smell great. Come on over, Zack." I smiled and knelt down lowering my head close to the flowers to smell them. Yeah, they were nice, and nodded silently before watching Aqua hop excitedly over to the other flowers growing in the field.

I stood there carefully watching as Aqua neared the other Pokemon as she took a closer look at all of the different flowers growing, thankfully the Pokemon didn't do anything and continued to let her examine the flowers. This place sure had a peaceful aura to it from how all of the Pokemon looked. Sunkern's, Dunsparce, a Tranquill, Doduo's, Roselia's, and a Rapidash with a Beedrill… but thankfully this Beedrill weren't the same antagonistic Beedrill we had encountered twice before since this one was a female Beedrill talking with the Rapidash. The cool air mixed in with all of the aromas of the flowers and vegetation growing nearby, it helped me set my mind at ease.

"Well, well ladies. Looks like we have a new male in the field." I turned my head to see three Roselia's standing next to me, all three with a bright smile on their faces as they checked me out. "And a cutie. Never seen a Pokemon like you before darling."

"He's a Dewott, sis." The Roselia on the left whispered to one in the middle. I'm guessing they siblings, all three of them. "But unlike any I have seen before. They are mostly blue, this one isn't."

"Hmm…" The Roselia in the middle walked closer and leaned in close to me, checking me from head to toe. "Carries a human… bag was it? Wears an eye patch, and those eyes are something I have never seen before."

"And boy does he look strong. I would like to be carried by him. Don't you agree ladies?" The Roselia on the right casually said out loud to the others, both nodding in response and attracting the attention of a few other Pokemon in the field. "And look at all of those scars he has on him. Either he's a strong fighter who has seen his fair share of battles, or he's uh… weak. Is that it, you received those scars because you didn't know how? So which is it cutie?" I felt insulted by that, I was in no way close to being weak. But I didn't want to cause any arguments with anyone, so I had to solve this in a more peaceful manner.

"I'm strong; I have defeated a lot of Pokemon for a while now in our travels." Maybe if I had said something along the lines like 'I know how to battle and have seen my fair share of battles and won some. But I am really tired for travelling so far.' I could've avoided what came next.

"Really now? Ladies, I think we have found a winner!" The Roselia's smiled all three of them as they walked up to me closing the gap between us. Two Roselia's grabbing and holding my arms, while the middle Roselia wrapped her arms around my body into a tight hug. The petals slightly tickling my back.

"Wow, he really is strong. Just feel the muscles he has on him." The Roselia giggled as she squeezed my right arm. "Wow! I had heard Dewott's trained a lot, but I guess they weren't lying about that."

"Hey, his heart is beating fast, girls. He must really enjoy this! Anything for a cutie!" The Roselia hugging my chest chuckled, urging the others to hug a lot more. I was incredibly nervous at what they were doing and wasn't sure what to do, how to get out of this without sounding cruel about it or antagonize them and a fight could ensue. Maybe Aqua could see that I needed help here and would come along any second now and save the day…

"Wow, I think I'm going to start making a flower necklace. Just gotta get the flowers needed first. Bright and pretty flowers would make an excellent necklace." It was all I could hear from her over the Roselia's amusement. So much for getting help. I was on my own for now and had to find a way on my own to get out of their tight grip.

Moving my left arm trying to lift my arm up out of the Roselia's arms, it did something else. Instead of freeing my arm from their tight grip, the Roselia only held on as I lifted it up, she hung onto it when I lifted my arm up high as she dangled and squealed in delight.

"Whoa!" The three sisters all said in unison, amazed that I could lift her up. She wasn't really that heavy, she was lighter than I had expected.

"Hey, lift me up would you, cutie?" The Roselia on my right sad as she clutched my arm tighter, wanting me to lift her up.

"Lift us both up at the same time. Show us how strong you are." The left cheered as she too gripped my arm tight.

"Aw, look girls, his face is all red." The Roselia in front of me noticed, pointing right at my face with one of her flowers. Both of the sisters quickly became aware of.

"Aw!" The sisters said together before leaning in and kissing me on my cheek, all hugging me again. "He's so adorable! Let's have him live with us!"

_"What the heck is going on?"_ I asked myself in my head. This whole thing had cranked from zero to a hundred really fast. _"How do I get out of this? C'mon Zack, think!"_

"Uh, I'm going to have to decline on living here with you three. I have this home I need to get to far away from here. My friends and family are worried sick and waiting for me to-"

"Gosh! Where are our manners! The poor dear needs to rest those muscles. The muscles in his legs are screaming for some relief!" The Roselia that hugged my chest said as she touched my leg and squeezed it. "He must be exhausted. Come, sit with us and we'll help you cool off before we begin on settling you down in our new home, sweetie." They didn't listen. Instead they just sat me down on the grass and surrounded me, commenting on me about my fur being white instead of blue, showing admiration for my eyes being unique, and how cool my scars are. Well, the good thing about this was that I was a little relaxed than I was standing up, the grass was nice, and the Roselia's weren't that bad, but they were still making me feel a little bit nervous as it caught the eyes of some of the Pokemon native to this field. From the looks they were given, most looked unhappy about what they were seeing. I then hoped that one of them would come over and help me out and then I would be at peace for the remainder of our stay here.

I tried once more on trying to break free from them, but they only cuddled me, leaning their heads against my chest, on my shoulder, and leg. I then thought maybe I could do some reverse psychology on them. After all, trying to resist them seemed to have leaded me here. Maybe they would leave after uh… saying I wanted this or something. "Uh, wow you cute uh… sisters are really something." As soon as I said this, the Roselia sisters slowly got up and looked at me. _"Here we go, it's working. I'll be out of this in no time. C'mon Zack, you can do this."_

"Huh?" The Roselia on my right gave me a questioning look, and so did the other sisters.

"I mean, ahem! All three of you are so cute. I could start getting used to this. I appreciate the things you are doing; treating me to uh… you're company. It's so relaxing and I hope we can have more. I think I am in love with the three of you!" I said embarrassed about the whole thing. But in my head I was thinking _"There we go, this forward approach will get them off of me."_

"Sisters…" The Roselia sister leaning on my lap announced kind of sadly. Then shifted in tone as a bright smile appeared on her face as well as a bright red blush as they leaned in to kiss me once more. "I wasn't really sure at first, but it settles it! The Dewott will become our mate! You all heard it loud and clear; he loves us!"

"Yeah! I really do like him." The Roselia on the left cheered. "I think this will be the start of something amazing!"

"He really is cute. Oh I can't wait for what the future has in store for us. It'll be magical!" The Roselia on the right giggled.

That obviously didn't help, and yet I was still stuck with them until… who knows how long it would take for some miracle to get them off of me. This really was a bizarre world indeed…

"Hey buddy!" Looking up, I saw a male Pinsir standing just a little ways from us with a glare on his face. "You think you can come in here and start stealing the females from us? Hah! I am so sick of Pokemon like you who think they can come crawling in here and start stealing away the females!"

"I'm not stealing anyone. All I am here for is to rest for a little while with my friend before setting off out of here." I calmly said to the Pinsir, hoping he would see reason.

"Yeah! You heard the cutie; he doesn't have time for bullies like you. And besides, we have already taken him as our mate." I wasn't sure why no one seemed to listen to me while I was here. Or maybe I wasn't talking loud enough?

"Him? As your mate? All three of you!?" He scoffed. "That scrawny Dewott doesn't look like he has any muscle in him. A strong wind could easily blow him over. Check out these muscles cuties and tell me what ya think!" The Pinsir started to flex his muscles. "What do you think? Pretty impressive, am I right?"

The Roselia to my right scoffed and rested her head on my shoulder. "I don't like show offs. They can real jerks. I like males like this Dewott here, so cute, always listens to what we say, so funny, so strong." The other two sisters agreed.

"_Funny? I didn't do anything funny while I was with them" _I thought back to when I first met them and up until now.

The Roselia resting her head on my chest looked up at me and asked. "Is he bothering you? We can help you get rid of him."

I shook my head. I didn't want this to turn into a fight and once again tried to calmly talk this out. "No, he's not bothering me."

"Oh! I see how it is! You're too scared to face me, eh Dewott?" The Pinsir argued. "Too scared to show how weak you are really in front of those cute Roselia's you are trying to claim as your own while you bring your daughter here."

"Daughter?" Looking over at Aqua still picking flowers to create a flower necklace, I shook my head. "No she isn't my daughter, she's my friend. We're just travelling together. We are staying for a little while and then we're leaving. Never coming back."

"Oh, so you are moving in on our territory to claim this place as your own, eh? The nerve on some Pokemon." The Pinsir spat.

"Is this a joke all of you are doing right about now?" I asked out loud, but no one of course listened to me. "You just find someone that comes in here, do the same thing you three are doing, or something and do this? Okay, jokes over, get off and please let me rest alone. I don't want to be a part of this joke if it is one."

"Alright that's it! You and me will fight to see who really is the strongest Pokemon amongst us. That'll teach you for saying those harsh words. The nerve!" The Pinsir declared, attracting the attention of a lot more Pokemon towards us, all circling around us.

"We have just had about enough of you, Pinsir!" The Roselia got up off my lap and stood in front of me. "I will not stand by and allow you to say that in front of our future mate. Um… sorry for asking you this late, but what is your name?"

"It's Zack. But can we not have-" I tried to say to avoid the fighting, but of course they didn't listen and forced into this situation. One I certainly didn't want to be in.

"Zack will fight you to get you out of here once and for all!" The two sisters next to me stood me up and dragged me in front of them. "Show this Pinsir not to mess with us. Do it for us, cutie."

"We believe in you!"

"Win this battle, cutie!" The Roselia kissed my cheek before running with her other sister to get out of the battle area. I turned around to see the Roselia's run out of the circle of Pokemon surrounding us as they all watched us ready to battle. Most of the Pokemon cheered for either me or Pinsir to come out victories.

Trying to al I could to escape the circle, I was pushed back in, saying I had to do this and wouldn't let me out no matter what. I jumped up to get a look out of the circle of Pokemon to see Aqua still picking at the flowers, and I waved at her to get her attention that I needed some help. She didn't notice and continued with her necklace.

"Alright Zack, here's the deal; it's a fight to the death-"

"No death, only knock out." A Dunsparce spoke up from the circle. "Last time a Pokemon died here or nearby, there were a large team of humans who cleaned up the place and messed up most of our flowers. And not to mention the amount of attention it drew, especially the trainers who came in here and caught most of our families and friends." Most if not all of the Pokemon surrounding us agreed.

"Uh… hm, I suppose a fight till you cannot anymore will suffice." The Pinsir shrugged. "Alright, it's settled then. Let's get this show on the road." The Dunsparce held a small rock and was about to throw it up, and the battle would begin once that rock hit the ground.

"What the heck is wrong with you Pokemon?" I tried to get them to listen to me, to make them understand that I didn't want to fight anyone.

"Hey! Dewott!" The Pinsir called to me. "Don't think you can run from this battle. I once battled thirty Pokemon by myself defending this place from an invasion when I was young. I have faced many Pokemon and defeated them within a minute. So come at me, Dewott. Let us see what you are capable of, you weakling!" The rock was thrown up and then hit the ground, and the Pinsir immediately charged right at me.

I tried to move out of the way of the Pinsir's attack, but he was too fast for me to evade the move and was hit directly into my side and sent into the wall of the crowd, pushing me back into the fight. The attack hurt, and I didn't have time to fully heal properly after the battle Aqua and I had on the Village Bridge with those Pokemon. The Pinsir moved in close and grabbed me, using Vital Throw, grabbing both my leg and arm as he lifted me up above his head and threw me down onto the ground really hard face first.

"Woohoo! Get em!" A few Pokemon called out. "Get up!"

"You can do it, cutie! We believe in you!" The Roselia sisters shouted amongst the cheering Pokemon. I got up and stumbled back away from the Pinsir. If I lost this battle we would have to use up a good amount of Potions before I could return to travelling again costing us a day here, and I didn't want that. But if I won this battle, I would be trapped in a tight hug by those sisters for who knows how long.

I used Scald and shot two of them at him, one he missed and almost hit a spectator, and the one that did hit the Pinsir reacted to it a little, stumbling back and shaking it off to use Sword Dance and Harden before charging at me again. When he got close, I used Protect before grabbing my scalchop and attacking him with Razor Shell once his attack had deflected the Protect pushing him back leaving me with a good opening to attack him.

This attack I did seemed to impress the crowd, especially the sisters wanting me to do more impressive attacks and defeat the Pinsir quickly so we can relax together. I didn't want to fight; I wanted to get out of this field already and move on to somewhere saner. If I won this battle, and Aqua wanted to leave, The Roselia sisters would protest and probably attack her or get another ring fight with either them or another Pokemon like Pinsir. I had to find a way to get out of this. Then I noticed behind Pinsir a large collection of dust where the Scald had missed him. Using Scald again and deliberately missing him and hitting the ground full of sand/dirt whatever, it created a large dust cloud.

So that was my plan on escape. I would get the Pinsir close to the crowd, use as many Scald's as I can at the ground and use the cloud it'll create to escape the circle, grab Aqua, and get out of this field. But at the same time I had to evade the Pinsir's aggressive attacks until I got him in place, which was no easy task. Sometimes he didn't leave the center area, quickly moving away from the crowd when near or moving, trying to keep him in palce when I tried to use Scald at the ground.

The Pinsir quickly moved in close to me and attacked me with Bug Bite, digging his teeth right into the side of my chest really badly before using Vital Throw again at the ground near the crowd. Before I attempted to stand back up and try again, I realized that I could make him come to me by pretending that I was on my last bit of health. One last hit would finish me off and end the battle, so I stayed and pretended I was finding myself having difficulty on standing up.

"Heh! 'Bout time!" The Pinsir roared as he charged at me, and when he finally drew near I used Scald at the ground between us, then another as fast as I could creating an incredibly large dust cloud which had engulfed the circle and blinded the crowd. I stood up and pushed myself out of the crowd of temporarily blinded Pokemon, ran as fast as I could towards Aqua, picked her up and quickly escaped this field and back onto the main road getting away from the field as far as possible.

* * *

Twenty or so minutes of running I think later, I stopped running and let Aqua down so we could the last remaining part of this route. Both of us were happy, but for different reasons; I with being free from the Roselia sisters and from having to fight a Pinsir who really did a number on me, and Aqua as she had finally completed her flower necklace, wearing it and smelling the flowers.

"That flower field was really beautiful. We should come back there again. After you get your memory back and after settling back down in your home, right?" Aqua cheerfully asked as she admired her creation around her neck.

"Uh… maybe…" In mind I was saying 'no way!' not wanting to bring what had happened in the field up again. I could live with that.

"The grass was really soft. The flowers were all pretty, I mean look at the ones I used for the necklace I made." Aqua showed me her necklace.

"They're really nice. That and the necklace you made, it looks good on you." Aqua blushed and went back to admiring her flowers in silence as we continued walking through the remainder of the route. Only a few more minutes left and we'll be out of here for good and onto the next place.

"Hey Zack, you and the others were playing before, did you win?" She asked and she happily admired her new necklace again. "You and those others were really loud you know."

"Yeah… something like that…" I said sighing, finding myself a lot more tired than I was when we came to the flower field. In a few minutes time we would enter the next area and rest before were nearing the gate leading us out of this route and into Lacunosa Town. We had already travelled this far and still had a little farther to go until our journey had ended.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This is one of the early chapters I typed up for this story. The story involved a pokemon ambush that lived there.


	29. Chapter 29 Voices

Chapter 29 – Voices

* * *

****

**The Dream**

I was sitting at the bottom of the sea, underwater far deep down but still able to see the sun shining down on the water creating light for us to view the wonders of the deep. I was sitting casually talking with Espeon, giving me updates on how we should proceed to Nuvema Town and the dangers we would expect if we weren't careful. Espeon's injured had healed up, but she still looked really tired, as though she hadn't been sleeping all that much. But it was nice to see her again and talk to her. 

"So why exactly do you call me Zackary? And not just me, but other people and Pokemon I have mentioned you give them nicknames… is that what you do?" I asked as a smirk appeared on her face.

"I give everyone I meet nicknames; friends, villains, jerks, side characters who appear in one of two chapters. Sometimes the names I give them via friends are lengthened for example; Chris to Christian, and shortened Lisa to Lisa Lisa." She sighed happily as she thought back to the day when we first met. "Meeting you back when we first met, I had a little trouble on what I wanted to call you. You introduced to me as Zack, so there was either Zacky, Zacko… yeah I guess that was it. Then I decided upon Zackary out of the other names I could think of at the time that I would call you that. It's just ever since I was young, I have always given nicknames to everyone I have meet or seen." She shook her head and chuckled softly. Moving on quickly to what she had wanted to tell me as the dream had begun. But for the past thirty or so minutes that passed in this world, or what seemed like it we talked nonstop about fun things, past hobbies I used to do, reading comics on occasions,

"Our intel have given us some good news about the situation involving some of our friends and your family being taken prisoner by the enemy." Espeon briefly watched as a Magikarp swim by with other Magikarp's "We know they are still in this region, alive might I add. But the location remains unknown to us still; I wish we could say they are all safe and… back home waiting for your return."

I nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Espeon. I wish I knew more about them."

She smiled, placing a paw on mine. "It'll be alright. Once you get back home we can help you remember everything, or I can help you remember the training I gave you with the Dark Place."

"The 'Dark Place'?" I asked, confused what that meant.

"It's a special kind of training us Psychic's and only Psychic types can use in order to train with their Psychic type moves, remember old or recent memories as though it happened yesterday. Everything you have seen, the details will be how you once saw them. In the Dark Place it'll help you remember who you once were with my help of course."

"You said Psychic types, but I'm a water type."

"True, but you are also a Psychic type capable of using the Dark Place and Psychic type moves." Espeon used her own Psychic and picked up a nearby shell and lifted it up in front of me. "I once taught you how to do exactly what I am doing right now. It took some time, but you managed to learn it within a week."

"I did this?" I asked her, she nodded as I reached my paw out to grab the shell. "I didn't know I could do that."

"There's a lit you don't know about yourself Zackary." She smiled. "But we'll save that when you come home. I uh… I don't want you to make you upset or panic. Maybe your mind going all haywire at the things I say because of what has happened since you have been gone, so we'll do it at home."

I was about to protest, wanting to know more about myself, maybe about my friends and family, but I suppose she was right about that. I guess I would just have to wait. But Espeon never did say anything about them other that they missed me. She never told me about Latias or that we were already in love. 

"I have been having dreams; dreams were I am travelling with two humans. A girl with short black hair wearing all black and a boy with blonde hair and wearing an old school uniform." I thought back to that vision I was shown by Gastly in route 12. Both of them being killed. "I saw them die. Who are they?"

"That would be Isaac and Sakura. They were your best friends." She turned away from me, her ears dropped. Espeon paused for a few moments before turning back around and looking me in the eye before she said. "Before you lost your memory, they were killed, by some evil people who were looking for you, Zackary."

"Oh…" I didn't know how to react to that. On the inside I felt nothing about hearing that and I felt bad about that. "I wish I knew about them. In the dreams I had with them, they seemed like nice people."

"Yeah, they were nice people. I really liked them." She nodded, once again looking out into the ocean, and I followed her gaze to see many water type Pokemon swim by, also I noticed an Oshawott wearing a pink bow on top of its head, kind of like Aqua's swimming alone, until an Umbreon, Leafeon, and Eevee swam up to her and the four played with each other. "Heh, you sure made quite a lot of friends on your journey, Zackary. They your new travelling party?"

"Only the Oshawott. Aqua is her name." I pointed her out to Espeon. "I don't think I would have made it this far without her help."

"Ah, is see. Well, she'll definitely be getting a huge reward for when she comes back; a party for helping our good friend Zackary come back home." She grinned, and then shrugged. "Or later depending on the circumstances we may have to postpone it for another date. Things going back at home, it looks like that'll be possible… so sorry about that." 

I wanted to ask more, but because of Espeon's strength rapidly dropping every time she contacted me this way, the dream was about to end. One who was skilled with Psychic type moves could keep this up with months of practice, but unfortunately for Espeon she just started using it shortly after the battle on Team Doom's HQ's rooftop. One by one the things around us faded into nothing, the sun and blue sky above us, the water, the water type Pokemon and the Aqua look-alike all gone leaving me alone with Espeon, slowly fading. 

"You just gotta keep moving on. Don't linger in one place for too long otherwise you could draw unwanted attention. And I mean attention from the same group who did this to you." Espeon pointed with her paw at me; my scars, my missing eye, even my memory. "No doubt they'll do worse if they catch you again. All of us back home, those the bitch captured locked in her hideouts, our allies, everyone… she will not have a reason to keep them around anymore. Stay off the main path as much as you possibly can. It may be some time before I can contact you again because of my weakened state. Be careful out there, Zackary. You are almost home."

"Thank you, see you then." 

* * *

**Route 13**

We had stayed in Route 13 since yesterday finding a nice place to rest in a small unoccupied cave five minutes away from the town a little ways off the main road. Waking after a good rest, we planned out the remainder of our journey; after passing through this route, we'll be in Undella Town, then after that we'll go through Route 14 and reach Black City. When we arrive at Route 15, instead of taking the main road, we plan to head directly south until we reach Nacrene City. It'll be a long journey, but it was our only way to get to Nuvema Town safely without heading back through Castelia City. 

"I did some math while looking at the map, and I think if we follow the map and our directions leading us south from Black City we should be at Nuvema Town within a week." Aqua said as she patted the map inside the bag I was carrying. "Or maybe two depending on how many distractions we see on our journey. We have encountered a lot of them haven't we, Zack?"

"Heh, oh yeah you're right, we have. Maybe we are magnets for those kind of things." I chuckled at the thought of al we have ever encountered. "I got to say though, for some odd reason I'm going to miss being out here on our journey, despite being dangerous on occasions and almost ending up dead. The sights, they were nice. And also, you and me, Aqua." I turned to her and she looked up at me as we walked. "We became friends, travelling together so we can get back home to Nuvema Town. I mean what I am trying to say is that I wouldn't have made it this far without your help. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else beside me on our journey. We'll continue this together taking on all sorts of opponents and come out the victors by the end of it!" Yeah, I couldn't have sounded anymore awkward than that. It made me wish that I could control time and redo all of that so I could make it sound better.

"Heh, Same here." She cracked a smile making me wonder if she realized how awkward I sounded. But whatever or not she realized she nudged me a little as we continued to walk. "So let's keep this up and we'll finish this journey together." 

The start of this route was all just tall trees and vegetation growing here and there, but the beauty of this route really came when we got into the clearing. Green gills with fresh grown grass with a lot of flowers in so many colors growing. To our left on the east side of the route was the sea side, and further on was the ocean where we could see the last parts of the Unova Region in the distance. Walking further in the route to see and admire more of the scenery we stopped at a sign reading; 'Undella Town south of Route 13. 20 minute walk.' Aqua and I looked at each other and smiled before continuing on through the route, hoping it would be a peaceful one and the locals wouldn't cause us any problem. If there was one other thing I would've liked to have known about when travelling is how to pass through territories owned by Pokemon safely without any trouble. I remember when we were living in the hideout when I heard a Raticate talk with an Emolga about territories throughout the region; how approaching one can lead to certain outcomes depending on the approach or the company you have with you. Some territories allow certain types of Pokemon to pass, others will either ignore you or see you as a threat, and if they ever did see you as a threat, I remember hearing that you shouldn't take them on if you don't have a good amount of Pokemon backing you up. Fighting by yourself in their territory is suicidal. Because once you show aggression, they will not stop until the threat is naturalized, they will all defend their territory to the death if they have to. We both knew there were Pokemon in this route, quite a lot of them belonging to a few clans within this route, we just hoped we wouldn't encounter any of them. 

"Uh-oh, Zack. I think we have just found another 'distraction'" Aqua smirked as she pointed at the sea side, mainly at the area with a lot of sand, a good place to relax and take in the sun while listening to the waves. But her smirk fell as she sighed. "I know we just woke up not too long ago, but we really do have to keep going." Something about her tone of voice told me something was bothering her, and I think I knew what was up.

"Aqua, even if we stop for a while, be it relaxing or setting up to eat, it's okay to do them. We don't really do them that often or take too long in doing so." I told her, not really caring to look forward towards the main road and instead focus on her. "We shouldn't push ourselves too much or we'll overdo it and end up exhausted and panicking too much on what the next corner will bring us. But ya know, once we reach Undella Town we can relax there. After reading inside the map book about the place, I read the sights are really a sight to behold if we get there when the sun is about to set." Aqua nodded and smiled as she held my paw with hers.

It was nice doing this, the beautiful surroundings, the fresh air; the sounds of the waves hitting the rocks beside the cliff really did make this walk seem to be a peaceful one, until… 

"*Whistles* Now ain't this a sight, ya'll! We got ourselves some lovebirds on our zone!" The two of us stopped as we looked up to see a Krookodile standing several meters in front of us with his arms crossed. Twelve Pokemon emerged from the bushes; three Sandile's, two Krokorok's, and the rest Foongus' circling around us. We looked at them, but they weren't Purrloin's gang members back at the hideout, but we couldn't let our guard down. Purrloin could've got them to work with her, either way our guards were way up. "Taking the little Oshawott on a little romantic walk, huh? And on our territory? Now, there are things we don't like; stormy weathers, cold blizzards, trainers trying to catch us on a weekly bases, and so on, and so on. But we bear with it and face them no matter the challenge, but one thing we hate most are Pokemon who think they can just walk freely into our territory." He pointed at us, and the Pokemon surrounding us agreed with him.

"We're just passing through. We didn't know this part of this route belonged to any Pokemon-"

"Well now you know." He interrupted.

"We're sorry, we're not here to harm anyone or challenge your clan. We mean you no harm. Please let us pass. We're just trying to get back home."

The Krookodile nodded and stepped forward towards us until he stood beside us. "I see, well then… off ya go. You two sure are busy, we won't keep you…" He gestured with his paw for us to get going. I was surprised at this and yet relieved that we managed to find a way through them. Without fighting we had managed to find a peaceful conclusion to this. About to walk forward, that's when this whole thing turned south when he set his paw on my shoulder. "But first we are going to need a little payment. So we'll be taking the Oshawott for a moment while you take a long nap." Then I felt something struck the back of my head before all went black. The last thing I could hear were the laughter of the other Pokemon as I fell to the ground, and Aqua shouting my name just as she used her moves to attack the Pokemon surrounding us.

* * *

I awoke with a short gasp as I felt a very sharp pain in the back of my head flare up when I tilted my head. The sun was almost about to set, I was out for maybe several hours, maybe more. But the longer I was gone I feared for Aqua, not knowing what those Pokemon had done to her or if she was still alive and well. _"Did she manage to hold them off?"_ I asked myself. Of course she did I would immediately respond. _"She was strong, she was good at battling. But against that many… I have to find her."_ I got up to find myself exactly where I was before I was knocked out by one of the other Pokemon behind us, so the question now was 'where did they go?' I looked at the ground and tried to find tracks, anything that could help me find Aqua. I noticed burnt marks on the ground near where I once lie unconscious, trees close that have had been cut up by either claws or other moves._ "So a battle did happen here after I was attacked. Maybe I should look nearby, maybe towards the trees."_ Near the trees I found scratch marks running along the sides, but nothing. "The heaviest place the battle took place was near me, but then ended up here by the trees. Did the battle end here?" I noticed behind the scratched tree was a completely drenched tree still dripping. It hadn't rained for a few days, the sun dried up pretty much everything after a few hours for how hot it was, yet this was the only drenched tree here. Walking up to it, I noticed at the foot of the tree a large blob of white sludge, and then I noticed it was ice. Looking back up at the tree, I could see gathered up in the branches the same white sludge; it was melted ice from an ice move. The move hit the tree and froze it, and now it has thawed leaving it drenched like this._"Aqua? Did you do this?"_ I saw more signs of battle behind that drenched tree, more stretches and claw marks marking each tree, so I ran through and hoped I wasn't too late and that Aqua was still alive.

I ran and I ran for as long as I could before finding myself out of breath and dehydrated. I took out a bottle of water and began to drink allowing myself a short rest until I continued my search for Aqua. But the more I stayed there resting, the more thoughts came to mind on what had happened to Aqua, fear that she hurt by those Pokemon, and scared to think of was that she wasn't alive and they had killed her. I shook my head, denying she was dead. "She's strong…" I whispered to myself, feeling myself shake a little out of fear and tried to control my breathing. "She's alive… I just got to find her and get out of this place as fast as possible." I felt myself a little at ease, more hopeful she was alright. After the rest I would continue my search to find her and everything would be alright once I we find each other.

"They will kill her." I gasped as I heard that voice. With my scalchop in my paw and using Razor shell before standing up and turning around where I heard the voice, I saw no one. The voice… no, voices, so many voices saying the same thing in unison as though they were right behind me, a crowd all standing and saying the same thing in perfect unison and timing. I heard the voices, but no one was there. "They will kill her and you will be left alone on your journey."

"W-who's there?" I demanded, searching for who or what was hiding nearby. The direction of the voices seemed to change wherever I looked. Behind me, beside me, above me, no matter where I looked I could never find the source of the voices.

"I was created when you became a Dewott, a member of the Team Doom Eight. I am the all of the bad thoughts you have ever had in your life. I help you in battle whenever you become enraged. And in our battle we have ever had… no one will ever have a normal life again." I turned still trying to pinpoint where the voice was actually coming from. I would soon realise the voices I heard came from within my head. "A Pokemon who fights you will have their energy taken away from them and absorbed into you making you stronger, but in doing so will kill said Pokemon."

"What? What are you talking about? Absorbing Pokemon's power? That's ridiculous. No Dewott has anything like that." I said while I searched for whoever the voice belonged to. Many voices at once, they didn't sound human or like any Pokemon I had ever heard before, yet somehow familiar to me.

"Except you, Zack. You are a creation by Team Doom. The same ones who did this to you; forced you to go on a quest to fight them in order to control you, killed your friends and family, hurt those you cared for. I help you fight better, I help you get stronger. You can fight Pokemon, defeat them and absorb their strength."

"You're not here. This is all in my head after i was hit. You're not real." I tried to convince myself. Telling myself over and over again that what I was hearing wasn't real. I was stressed or too anxious on not having found Aqua yet, fearing she was hurt or worse.

"I will be, once you discover Aqua lying dead while her killers remain alive. So unless you want me awaken once more, I suggest you save her. But know this; I will awaken again for sure, when an ally is hurt, a loved one is dying, when you are betrayed, when you are hurt, when we meet the one who did this to us. Anger can wake in so many ways. The only way we can ever wake and control you to do one thing; kill. Resist us all you try, but sooner or later that anger within will burst and you will not be able to control it. You may become so enraged you might even hurt those you are trying to protect." The voices laughed, echoing all around me.

"What are you… You know who did this to me? You mean wiped my memory clean, gave em these scars?" I asked, but all I got no reply. "Who did this to me? Why? Hey! Answer me!" Again silence. The voices were gone now leaving me alone in this small clearing. "What was that?" Then I remembered that I still had to look for Aqua wherever she could have gone. I began to run again back on the trail I had found. Scratch marks and burnt vegetation, which was all I had in search of my friend, traces of a battle I didn't know the outcome to, if they were still fighting, if Aqua was alive and still holding them back.

I had finally reached the sea side to find more signs of a past battle. But outside the tree line I noticed a battle taking place near the shoreline, so I took a closer look, and I gasped when I saw the same Pokemon who had surrounded us before all gathered around Aqua with the Krookodile slowly walking towards her.

"Now come on Oshawott, we are nice guys once ya get to know us." The Krookodile said in a singsong voice, trying to win her over, but it was useless. No matter what Krookodile offered, she wouldn't accept him. "The place we have will be a nice and relaxing place you can call home once we have got to know you better. I mean it is far better than having to go through the rest of the area since a lot of terrifying humans armed with weapons have been showing up lately. We'll keep you safe."

"You come near me, and I will attack you!" She gripped her scalchop with her paws and prepared herself to use Razor Shell if he'd get too close to her. The Krookodile smirked and tried once more, slowly stepping forward.

"It ain't like the Dewott is going to live. The whack on the head will leave him there for a few more hours before sending some of the guys to go waste the Dewott." He set his paws aside as he slowly inched closer to Aqua. "He was a wimp. C'mon, any Pokemon could see how weak he was. A strong Pokemon would never have allowed himself to ever be cornered and hit over the head like that, would've been prepared for it. So how about you ditch the Dewott and come with us. I promise you will-" When the Krookodile had gotten too close to Aqua, and that was when she made her move. With no hesitation and no fear, she activated Razor Shell and slashed at his maw cutting through from the tip to about halfway of his entire snout. The Krookodile took a while before he noticed the pain and the damage she had done to him. "Ah-h ah—w-what… ah- ah!" The Krookodile sniffed before yelling out in pain as he fell to the ground grasping his wound. A wound most if not all of the Pokemon surrounding her backed away as Aqua pointed her Razor Shell at them as she walked away from the Krookodile.

"I'm giving you a chance to let me pass. Forget about me and treat your friend here. Or if you want, come at me… and I might do worse to you than I did to him." It was sudden change hearing that from Aqua. Her happy go lucky attitude she had from when I first met her up until now had changed to a serious one. Most had backed down and stepped away, but those that didn't; two Sandile's stood there and growled as they moved in on her.

I moved in and used Scald at one of the two Sandile's hitting it right into its side before tumbling over. I expected Aqua to come running to my side like she usually did, but instead all I heard from her was "Glad you're okay Zack. Let's finish this last Sandile off!" or more like her doing that herself as she rushed at the last Sandile who instead of charging at her instead ran away in fear. "Yeah, you better run!" Aqua shouted as she stopped and watched the Sandile run from her while the rest followed leaving a sniffing injured Krookodile and us.

I knelt down and lightly touched the back of my head to find the wound still bleeding, so I reached for the bag to apply myself some Potion to heal it back up.

"Hey! L-let me check the back of your head. You were hit at the back of the head really badly." She pulled me down so she could see my wound better and immediately opened up my bag and pulled out the medical kit to treat my wound. "I'm glad you're alright. I didn't want to leave you there, but I was being chased by those creeps, I had to try and lose them somehow. Fought them off for a long time I feared I would slip up and end up dead or worse. But somehow I managed to find strength within me and managed to fight them off. I was really surprised by how long I lasted really."

"Are you okay?" I asked her, keeping my head still while she applied the potion. "Fighting that many Pokemon alone must've been tough."

"My back…" she said after a short pause. "…and my right arm was cut in the battle. But in other words I'm fine. I'll live. It was scary the battle I had, I knew I couldn't give up no matter what, there was you I still needed to save, bring back home where your friends and family are waiting for you, I fought to bring you back home. With you unconscious back there I wanted to get the fighting away from you as far as possible so you wouldn't get hurt."

"I'm glad you're okay Aqua. I was beginning to think the worst had happened."

Aqua patted me on the back after she was done and sat in front with her back turned to me as I helped her with her injuries she couldn't see. "I was thinking the same about you. In the battle, I wanted to go back and check up on you. But I couldn't get rid of them."

"You know, I'm starting to feel stronger for some reason. Maybe it was the amount of fighting I did all on my own, the amount of running I did or the adrenaline. But I feel different somehow, less of me before I did all of that on my own. I guess maybe I just grew up." She shrugged. "You think I've grown since then?"

"Yeah, your personality more than your body, uh… in a way you are growling up I mean. So does that mean you don't want ice cream anymore, then?"

Her face lit up from the sound of 'ice cream' and immediately jumped up at me. "No, no, no, no! I want ice cream when we arrive at your home. Chocolate, berry, strawberry, vanilla… ooh, with sprinkles? We gotta get some sprinkles-" and of course the ice cream loving Oshawott was back as opposed to the mature one from before.

So after a quick clean up of my wound and hers, we got our stuff together and made out way towards Undella Town, a couple of minutes walk away, a place for us to stay for the night and continue with our journey by tomorrow.

They say when a Pokemon is about to evolve, they mature. It varies from different Pokemon. Signs of this show when a Pokemon acts a certain way towards things they liked to do. When a Pokemon does evolve into the next stage, they sometimes become different Pokemon altogether, almost void of who they once were inside. Aqua would be evolving soon, she would get stronger, and her personality may change. I had hoped the same fun loving and cheerful Oshawott would remain within her when she did. Travelling with Aqua, laughing at her jokes, her favorite many ice cream flavors she has tried and those waiting to be tasted, I didn't want it to go.

I thought back to those voices I heard before. If what I heard were true, that if I ever get angry, those voices would control me somehow, I feared Aqua may look at me differently.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

A team member from The Savior's Zack once worked alongside at some point was to appear within this chapter to help him remember more of his past. But first they had to stop a clan of Pokemon from terrorizing the route. The chapter ended with the clan defeated but attracted the unwanted attention of Purrloin and her gang and chased after them leaving Zack still not remembering much about his past life. This story idea was cut as a coin toss decided the outcome for the chapter, obviously this one lost and the story above was the chosen one.


	30. Chapter 30 Voices and Growth

**AN: And now we reach 30 chapters in with 10 more to go with 5 extra chapters after the main story has ended. Already working on chapter 35 as I upload this chapter, so it shouldn't take long until I have the rest all done and the story completed before the summer ends. A small chapter for this one, but a longer one the next one. Thanks for reading and please enjoy.**

Chapter 30 – Voices and Growth

* * *

****

**Undella Town**

Sitting on the shoreline of the beach in front of the waves was Aqua staring out at the ocean for the past fifteen minutes now. We had arrived at the town and found a place to rest. Her long talk about the many flavors of ice cream she would like to try stopped when we ate for dinner before sleeping the for the night. Then in the morning she barely said anything and kind of looked glum about something. I tried to ask her about it, but she denied anything was wrong with her and decided to go out for a little walk through the town eventually stopping by the beach, all Aqua did was sit there in silence watching the ocean.

I stood several feet away and watched her beside a street light near a small café. On the beach were several humans and Pokemon either playing together or relaxing on the beach taking no mind to Aqua being there, assuming she was a Pokemon owned by a trainer nearby at least that was what the others did with both of us thankfully and didn't try to catch us. I decided I would have to go in and talk with her; I had to know she was alright.

"Hey Aqua." I smiled as I sat next to her, offering a small carton of juice from my bag, she declined and continued to look out at the ocean. I tried to keep up with it, to help her cheer up by saying some random joke or comment about the beautiful blue ocean. "It's pretty, huh? Um… I remember about my past and I was good at swimming. At least good enough to at least learn how to do the basics; backstroke, breaststroke… um… yeah, that's about it." Aqua shifted her eyes at me briefly before returning back at the ocean. I took that as a sign she was listening and continued on. I was surprised that I remembered all of that about swimming. It's a relief that I did otherwise I would probably talk about something stupid like how dry the sand is or how wet the water is…. "I remember seeing how long I could hold my breath for, one minute thirty was my record as opposed to ten seconds when I was younger. I was really proud that I managed to hold my breath for that long."

"Is… is it difficult? Holding your breath for that long?" she asked, still facing the water.

I was happy she was talking again, I just had to keep her talking and try and find out what was wrong. "Um, with some practice you should be able to hold your breath for a long time. You want to try?"

"I… I can't swim." She sighed.

"_Dang it…"_I gritted my teeth, almost regretting what I just said thinking it was the worst thing to say._ "I was trying to help her, now I feel as though I have just pushed her back. Gotta find a way to change this around."_

"Well, you won't learn anything if you don't try. So how about I teach you?"

Aqua turned her head again towards me. "Huh? But Zack, we can't go in the water. We just applied the potions on us this morning. It'll have gone to waste if we go in, and our wounds will reopen. We need to get our injuries healed completely before going in water."

"Then how about I teach you after we get back home?" I offered, that seemed to have done the job, Aqua was smiling again.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? After the journey, once the injuries have all healed up and the reunion all done with my friends and family waiting in Nuvema Town we'll definitely do some swimming, if you want to." She nodded with a smile. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close in for a comforting hug. "I'd be happy to help."

"Yeah, I would like that. Thanks Zack. I'm looking forward to that day."

"You know you can tell me anything." I asked her, a risky move and thinking that I had said it too fast. I was considering on quickly saying something else to help change the subject.

"Um… well it's about yesterday…I have been thinking…" I said, picking up a grain of sand with her paw and tipped her paw allowing the sand to fall back down. "Back in Route 13, I feared I would lose you, the same way I lost my parents before I met you, Zack." She turned her head up to look out at the ocean. "When they attacked you, watching you fall like that… I thought they killed you… but when I found out you were still alive I struggled to fight them off, fighting each one that had come close to me, I wanted to save you. I didn't sleep last night, worried that our luck would run out and Purrloin would catch up to us and… you know…"

"Aqua…"

"I feared I would be alone again. I wouldn't know how I could finish this journey without you."

"I don't know if we'll make it the journey or not. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's better to be honest than give you false hope." Aqua looked up at me as she listened in. "I'm scared too. I don't know how to finish this journey without you, Aqua. All we can do is to continue on our journey and hope we'll make it, remembering everything we have learnt, our training, and by getting stronger." I held her closer. "I want to continue travelling with you, so I'm going to be extra careful from now on. So if we stay strong, I'm sure we can do this."

"I can do that." She held her paws out in front of her. "Do you think I can get stronger by evolving?" I was surprised by that, not realizing she too had thoughts on evolving.

"Aqua, do you want to evolve?" Aqua stood up and nodded.

"I want to get stronger. I want to be able to hold my own ready to fight. Two able fighters are better than one should we face many opponents. And if Purrloin and her gang find us, with our strength we can face them without worrying about the other in battle." Aqua held my arm and got me to stand up. She looked up at me and smiled. "Very soon I hope I'll be able to stare right at you without having to tilt my head up like this."

"Huh, I don't think I have ever seen a shiny Dewott before. Now that'll be something to see."

Aqua smiled and held my paw and we sat together. She looked at my tail first, my ears, and feet. "They stay the same, but are longer… but the body is different, and so are the eyes a little. The scalchop is doubled so we have two instead of one. And we have tuft of fur growing up at the top of the head. Oh! And Dewott's have three fingers. Huh, I wonder what it's like to evolve. Do you remember when you evolved, Zack?"

I shook my head. "Not even when I was young. I'm sorry I can't give you a heads up on that, but I'm sure it'll be alright when you do evolve."

"I wonder what you were like as an Oshawott." She wondered, drawing an Oshawott with her paw in the sand in front of us. It was a good drawing of one, but the head was way too big and lacked a scalchop. "If I had paint like I did in Leafeon's painting class from the hideout, I probably would've done better, adding some color to it."

I took one of my scalchops off and placed it on the Oshawott's belly. "Oh, I forgot about that part." She said as she finished the drawing by adding the tail. "I imagine a white body, and the same eyes you have now. Now I am wondering what you'll look like as a Samurott." She wondered as she looked up again at me, imagining what I would like as one. But the Doom serum negated that for us. Humans injected with the Doom serum could never evolve; I believe it was all because it could handle it or something. I can imagine a Samurott me would stand out a lot if we were travelling together. "Then I would be on your back while you take me the rest of the way home."

"If I do evolve, I will not let you do that. You can walk alongside me. And besides, I still have scars on my back that haven't fully healed up yet. I don't want you tearing them up with your claws or whatever."

Aqua gently nudged me and chuckled. "You're no fun. No fun at all." I was happy Aqua was being her usual happy self. I liked to see her happy. Then I thought back to when I regained consciousness after the Pokemon attacked me. I searched for Aqua, than after I took a short rest I heard voices. I decided to tell her about it, maybe she heard the same voices as me before.

"Hey Aqua, after I was attacked, did you hear voices in the forest?" She shook her head.

"I heard nothing. I was too busy fighting off the Pokemon. What do you mean voices in the forest? Was there someone there when you came too?"

"After regaining consciousness, I searched for you. I ran through the forest and came to a stop at a small clearing to breathe and hydrate. That's when I heard voices behind me. I looked back and I saw nothing. The voices spoke in unison, they told me that I was a creation of Team Doom… whatever that is and I had a powerful ability that is deadly whenever I face another Pokemon. If I defeat a Pokemon it said, I would absorb their strength and… kill them."

"What?"

"It isn't the first time I have heard those voices before, only before it was shorter all saying that I should k-…" I stopped myself fast. Unsure how to finish that. I didn't want to scare her or make me out as some crazy Pokemon, so I changed it around. "… that I should finish them off fast and move on to the next. Then I heard the same voices yesterday and told me about how I would be alone and the voices would finally take over me." I looked at Aqua, and yeah I would've guessed she would look that way, a look that said without words 'what you're saying doing make sense.' At least it was better than a look of pure fear and repulsion. Maybe it did some damage I feared. But I kept on. "Yeah, it sounds a little out there, but it's what I heard. There is more to this Dewott you see before you than you realize. Maybe I am a freak…"

As soon as I said that word, voices from the past echoed my mind. Voices of the people from my childhood bullying me. I was a victim of some pretty harsh bullying in my youth, mostly saying how I was a freak and I was a loner in a way since I didn't have any human friends at school, only a Pokemon from home I considered my friend; Latias. Hearing those voices, I was confused by them and a little scared. But what surprised me was when Aqua stood up and hugged me close.

"You're not a freak!" She trembled, shaking as she stood. "Don't say that you are. I know you are a good Pokemon, who would never hurt anyone. You have done so much, not just for me, but for others along the way." She tilted her head up so the two of us were almost inches apart, something that made me nervous, but also made me… warm when I looked into her eyes as she did mine. "Zack… I…" she sniffed then rested her head on my chest as she sobbed, and I held her close.

We stayed on the beach for a few more hours before continuing with our journey. If we had left sooner, we may have avoided the conflict within Route 14 that changed a lot of thing, it helped Purrloin and her gang on their search for us, it helped Shiny Latias on her search for me, and it changed Aqua.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Originally this chapter had Zack and Aqua explore the town and have run while relaxing after the previous chapter. Yep, it would've been a filler chapter.


	31. Chapter 31 Change

Chapter 31 - Change 

* * *

**Route 14**

Route 14 seemed to be quiet today. I thought it was that the humans were battling by the entrance to Undella Town with their trainer, or perhaps the upcoming storm about to come, but there were other reasons the route was quiet that day, something which didn't go unnoticed by either of us as we cautiously proceeded through the route. We didn't want to have a repeat of what happened in Route 13.

I had thought about finding a place for us to stay for a while so we could focus on training. I felt as though I needed to get better at my moves since I had been a little sluggish as of late and to properly eat an rest, but for some reason it never came up and we just continued down the path until we tired ourselves out and had to look for a place to stay for the night and continue on the next day. 

Suddenly, the both of us stopped together when we heard rustling in the trees. Aqua and I didn't both face the tree, instead I was the only one facing it and Aqua stayed behind me and faced the opposite way, on the lookout should anyone try to sneak attack us from behind. Gripping my scalchop I prepared to use it, cautious of what was there. But before I could strike two Pidgeot's flew up from the trees they were in… a false alarm. We both let out a huge sigh of relief as we watched the flying types fly away in silence for a moment before laughing.

"Well, we can't be too careful… whew, that sent my heart racing!" Aqua chuckled as we began to continue down the route almost reaching the halfway point. "But at least our new tactic looks good; back-to-back looking in different directions instead of just the one, ready for any sneak attack, huh?"

"Heh, let's hope it works when an actual real enemy comes at us or more. We'll be ready then." it was something we talked about last night, a position should we ever face multiple opponents or one quick enemy, always watching out for when an enemy strikes, when facing multiple enemies and looking out for when one or two attacks, alerting the other where the enemy is, that way we'll be safer if we have each other's backs.

"Yeah, I hope so. If we work on our technique, how we handle enemies surrounding us, I think we'll do well next time we ever have to face that many." Aqua sighed. "But enough about that, let's talk about ice cream!"

To that I sighed and rolled my eye as she began talking about her favorite ice cream for the second time today. Five more times and she would stop for the day. But as she was talking about her favorite ice cream, I was focused on the bushes besides the road we walked down, potential areas a Pokemon could hide behind and attempt to attack us. As we walked further down the road, I couldn't help but feel as though something about this road felt off despite it begin quiet compared to the other routes we walked through, and when we did walk through routes with an atmosphere like this, it usually didn't go so well.

With Aqua walking beside me on my right, my left paw was very close to my left scalchop should an ambush happen at any moment. The atmosphere alone was making me nervous, almost too nervous for me to continue on through this route and stop right then and there to catch a breath for a while and continue with our journey. Then I stopped Aqua in her tracks as something emerged from the bushes. A few feet in front of us, a lone human casually walking out from the bushes and smiled at us.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Zack Raines. It's nice to finally meet you." Emerging from behind the trees was a tall man wearing a white lab coat and glasses. I had never seen this man before, he spoke softly with a smile, but somehow I felt he was dangerous and took a step back with Aqua behind me, watching our backs for a sneak attack. Or so I thought… Aqua behind me instead peeked around the side of me and stared directly at the man's face for a while before she gasped and hid.

"Aqua, what's wrong?" I whispered to her as she whimpered.

"My boy, we have been looking all over the Unova region for you. To find you here of all places… phew, I was worried you were already dead or would be forever lost in this large open world." He smiled. "You're friends and family are waiting for you. So let's not dilly-dally any longer and return to them immediately. A reunion with them after so long will cure their almost broken hearts of your disappearance."

"Who are you?" I asked him, not forgetting about keeping watch at the bushes off the road, cautious of an attack.

"Oh my, forgive me for not saying so earlier. My name is-"

"Leo Valentine!" Aqua answered with a whisper behind me before the man could. The man said his name 'Leo Valentine' and Aqua tugged at my back and whispered. "H-he's a bad man."

"W-what? You know him?"

Aqua nodded her head. "Do you remember when I told you about how me and my parents where once captured by a human and did experiments on me? How I can see visions of the future? That's him, there's no doubt about it, but that's the man who did this to me." The man raised an eyebrow as he noticed Aqua hiding behind me.

"Hm? Who's that you have with you? An Oshawott?" He leaned to the side to get a better look at her from where he was. "A shiny one from what I can see." His facial expression changed from a calm one to a more excited one as he asked us, "Is that the Oshawott the Purrloin mentioned to us who found Zack on the shoreline of Castelia City?"

"_How did he know that? And he know's Purrloin_?" I thought in my head, anxiety rising by him mentioning Purrloin. _"If he knows her then they're probably working together. But how is that possible if neither of them can understand each other? And purrloin has made it clear that she and her gang should not be close to humans. Just who is this guy?"_ Aqua whimpered again as she tried pulling me back with her to get away from him. Then suddenly the bushes rustled and five Pokemon emerged; a Houndoom, a male Meowstic, an Electrike, a Meowth, and a Feraligator. But it wasn't just any Pokemon, they were both Pokemon from Purrloin's gang surrounding us, each with a smile.

"Hey Zack, hey Aqua! Miss us?" The Feraligatr chuckled. "Been a while since we last saw each other."

"Purrloin surely will reward us handsomely for this capture." Meowth hissed. "Now all we gotta do is to render each of them unconscious for the travel back to the boss. Can't have either of you squirming on the way."

"These Pokemon have agreed to an alliance with our team." Leo chuckled as he adjusted his glasses. "My boss wants so much to 'see' you again Zack. We have so much work to do. As for the Oshawott, I would so much like to see if you really do have abilities." He smiled as he noticed Aqua looking back at him behind me. "Avoiding those bullets that day when those idiotic soldier's tried to kill you, either it was luck, or perhaps you do have an ability. That ability would prove useful to our new team. Perhaps if all goes well and you do serve me well, you can live with Zack in our new HQ." Leo pointed at me with his finger and tried to bargain with me. "That Oshawott is important to me for few reasons you cannot understand. But I and my boss you see have information about you. Yes, we know about your memory loss and we want to help you instead of you endlessly wandering the region for whatever it is you are doing out here. We can help you. All of your memories, your loved ones, friends, family, every place you have been and the memories they hold. Come back peacefully with us and allow us to take the Oshawott. I promise you she will not be harmed."

"There's no way I'm giving her to you." It didn't even take me a second to think about that. "The things you did to her… do you think I would just hand her over to you? Aqua is my best friend, you're gonna have to get through me first! And don't even think Aqua can't fight back; she's stronger than she looks. If it's a fight you want, then come at us!"

"So the Oshawott has a name… Aqua?" Leo chuckled and clicked his fingers. "Do not kill them. The boss wants the Dewott, so feel free to attack as much as you like until he collapses, but the Oshawott I want her in good condition! Get them!" Leo Valentine ran off to the side of the road out of the way of the battle.

Aqua quickly stayed where she was and focused on the Pokemon behind me while I focused on the front. All we had to do was wait for the Pokemon to strike first, and they did and all at once, but we didn't break apart and instead and stick together to fight side-by-side planning to combine our attacks to fight.

I held onto Aqua's right paw as she with mine, using our left paws we quickly grabbed our scalchop's and used Razor Shell and spun around in a circle paw in paw as we hit both the Feraligatr and the Meowth. Aqua then used Ice Beam at the Houndoom as I used Razor Shell again at the Electrike that charged at me, our attacks both collided but nothing got through on both sides. The Houndoom Aqua attacked was slightly bit by the attack but easily shrugged it off and used Ember at her hitting Aqua's chest before using Bite on her arm.

Running up beside Aqua I used Scald at the Houndoom, that attack made the Pokemon yelp out before free Aqua from his teeth. The Feraligtr used Liquidation on me, a sudden move from out of nowhere, an attack that didn't do much damage with me being a water type but one that would be bad for me once the barrage of attacks began from the other Pokemon.

Meowth struck at me with Fury Swipes, Meowstic using Imprison to prevent me from using my moves for a while, and Houndoom with an Ember. I was knocked back and tried desperately to use a move I could use to turn the tide of battle, but the move Meowstic used was still in effect, so it was up to Aqua for now until I could get back into it. But it however didn't stop the other Pokemon from attacking me still as I was met with more attacks hitting me. Aqua moved in to defend me from the attacks, getting two of the them away from me; the Meowstic and Meowth and dealt with them while I focused on evading the Feraligatr, Houndoom, and Electrike's attack.

"Should've stayed with us at the hideout Zack, now it looks like Purrloin's gonna have to hurt the Oshawott as punishment." The Feraligatr growled. ""

"Your moves are inactive still. I'd hate to fight a defenseless Pokemon. So we are giving you a chance, the both of you the chance to surrender and we'll go peacefully without further injury." Houndoom growled as he stepped forward. "Maybe Purrloin will go easy on the little one and not torture her to death and allow her to live. Wouldn't you like that? Or would you instead fight? Say no and I will gladly hurt the Oshawott after I defeat you. Because of her she has us out here day and night without sleep, without food, comfort! I am exhausted! I want to go home! I miss my family!"

"Hey, get in line Houndoom, I want to go for her first! I missed out on seeing my child's hatching because of her, and a parent only gets one chance with that for that child!" The Electrike spat. "My mate still talks about it like I wanted to miss it… That damn Oshawott! I may even tear off an arm of hers and give it to my mate as an apology, that'll rekindle my relationship with her!"

"Heh, you got a choice here, Zack; either it's surrender and no harm will come to you or Aqua. Or if you choose to fight, no telling what'll happen to Aqua once me and my friends have beaten her."

I glared at them, finding my paw on my scalchop. Feeling my power from deep within, wanting my power to come back at any moment to fight them, I felt it all come back to me. They made the wrong choice and spoke for too long, it was enough for the move Meowstic had used on me had finally faded away and I was free once more to attack, and so I let them have it.

"W-what the? His moves are back?" The Feraligatr gasped he he was struck first with a fast Razor Shell across his chest sending him back onto the ground for an opening of second attack, but that never came since the two Pokemon beside him were quick to react and attacked me; Ember and Iron Tail, hitting me on both arms and legs.

I was about to retaliate until I heard the sudden yelp from Aqua scream out from the other side. I turned around to see the Meowstic and Meowth pinning Aqua to the ground clawing away at her with their claws. I ran at them ready with my scald to get them off, but I was unexpectedly charged by the Houndoom and attacked me using a similar move to the ones both Meowth and Meowstic were using. "Aqua!" I called out to her as I tried to block the Houndoom from biting at my neck. They wanted us alive, but knowing Purrloin she would torture Aqua before killing her, I had to break free before I lost too much health. I didn't know who this Leo Valentine was or how he knew me, who his boss was, but if I passed out here and now I felt as though something bad would happen, something I may never be free of, so I had to fight to stay conscious to escape with our lives.

Light suddenly engulfed Aqua's body as the two quickly got off of her and stepped back and so did the Houndoom to look at what was happening allowing me to be free from his grip pinning me to the ground. I watched as Aqua's body grew bigger, growing more fur on the top of her head, her waist, and whiskers. She was evolving, and when it was finally done a Dewott was in her place. Instead of looking down at her new form or stunned by any of this, she immediately grabbed one of her scalchops and attacked both Meowth and Meowstic with Razor Shell and sent them flying into the tree smacking them and knocking them out before immediately standing up in one swift motion to take on the other three.

I used Scald at the Houndoom in his face and joined in on the fight, and ran at the Scalchop and slashed at his face when he was staggered with my Razor Shell before moving onto the Electrike using Protect when he began to use an Iron Tail at me breaking away at the move pushing me back a little.

Aqua used Ice Beam on the Feraligatr freezing him solid before she summoned up a massive wave of water and used Surf to quickly finish him off jumping off the wave as it died down before it reached the trees. I noticed she was bleeding on her shoulder and showed signs of slowdown when she tried to move in on Houndoom to attack and finish him off.

I successfully managed to dodge an Electro Ball from the Electrike, an attack I was weak to and would seriously hurt a lot, it might have knocked me out if I was hit by it for how weak I was feeling in the fight, but I was by his Iron Tail as he back flipped first and wacked me pretty hard in my chest. Using Razor Shell once more and for the final time in that battle I managed to land a direct hit and knock him, feeling as though I was down to the last bit of my strength. But oddly I felt a surge of energy kick in after I defeated the Electrike in battle. A strange bluish energy came out of the body of the unconscious Pokemon and flowed right into me making me both energized and feeling slightly stronger in a way. Then I heard the voices again echoing in my head 'kill them all' I shook my head and looked at Aqua as she just about finished off the Houndoom and ran up to her.

"Aqua, you alright?" I asked. She looked at me and only nodded. "C'mon, we gotta go!" I said quickly as we ran together without looking back at the battle sight, without knowing Leo Valentine had emerged from the trees and watched as we ran away with a smile.

"So the reports are true then." Leo smiled as he glimpsed at the now dead Electrike. "Zack's ability absorbs the energy of any Pokemon he defeats in battle making him stronger and thus kills them in the process, truly a deadly ability making him the perfect soldier once the boss has hold of him and controls him to take down our foes. As for the Oshawott now a Dewott, it hasn't gone unchanged my plan. The data I have gathered will make use in later battles. I suppose I'll take the Electrike here and study it for a while before continuing with the capture of the female Dewott and her accomplice, give her time to grow and get stronger before taking it for the experiments to begin anew. How interesting indeed." Leo took on last look at the unconscious Pokemon before walking away off the main road and chuckled.

* * *

We ran together away from that area as fast as we could, avoiding the main road and through the trees to lose sight of anyone watching us or trying to catch up. We didn't stop running until we ran for what seemed like an hour through this route, cutting a lot of time if we had walked through this route instead. As long as we were far away from them and Leo Valentine the better. But I was however curious as wanting to know who that man was and how did he know me.

"You alright Aqua?" I asked her ready to open up the bag to apply any injuries we had. Aqua sat on the grass panting for air from how much we ran. She nodded and reached for the bag and took out bottled water and drank from it before applying some Potion onto her legs before helping me by treating my wound on my stomach.

"We should keep moving. There's no telling if Leo Valentine has soldiers scoping out this route or if Purrloin and her gang are nearby." She gulped before taking another sip of water. Her voice didn't sound different from before, it sounded clearly the same. "I thought I would never see that man again…"

"Aqua…" I wanted to say something to help cheer her up. I placed my paw on hers, she looked at me. "Hey, I won't let that man touch you or anyone as long as I'm around."

Aqua smiled as she blushed before leaning her head on my shoulder. "I know I can always count on you, Zack. But you know, I really hope we don't see him again or Purrloin and her gang. I just want to be free from this fighting."

"Me too." 

Aqua brought up her paws up in front of her face and smiled. "Hey look, I have larger paws now." She showed off her new paws to me, flexing her fingers. "This means I can now grab more spoons than just the one so I can eat more delicious ice cream!"

And what I feared before; Aqua upon evolving would change her personality to some else, less the Aqua I knew and like a totally new Dewott travelling with me. But to my surprise it didn't come. Aqua was still the same happy ice cream loving Oshawott inside.

"And I have whiskers… hmm, I really hope they don't get in the way when it'll come down to eating ice cream. After the last time I had some, it was kind of hard to wash off." Aqua flicked her new whiskers before she readjusted her pink ribbon on top of her head to be next to the tuft of fur lifting up. "How do I look?"

"You look great." I smiled, happy to see Aqua also happy since recent events, the attack on Route 13, encountering Leo Valentine, a man she hated from her youth coming back all of a sudden, and her change. "I'm really happy for you Aqua."

She stood up and offered me her paw, I accepted it and stood up next to Aqua smiling at me before she dashed off near the main road towards Black City shouting out; "Let's have a race to the city. Loser has to treat the winner to a huge bowl of ice cream!"

"Uh- h-hey! Wait up! This race is pointless you know." I called out after her trying to keep up with her. "You know you are still going to get some ice cream after we arrive in Nuvema Town!"

"Yep! But a second bowl sounds great! Maybe even three bowls!" Aqua laughed running even faster now, but eventually I caught up a little behind her choosing not to overtake her and let her have this victory. I would've won that race ya know…

We ran together through the last part of the route towards Black City, Aqua gloating about how she was faster than me every tree we passed almost. Despite this it was fun having to race to the city and seeing how Aqua was happy.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Aqua was supposed to evolve in an earlier chapter. this chapter was the same chapter Aqua was in the Pokemon center after she was attacked by Pokemon and Zack had to take her to the nearest center. There, Aqua woke up in surprise to see her new form.


	32. Chapter 32 Trying to Start Something

Chapter 32 – Trying to Start Something

* * *

****

**Black City – Abandoned House**

We took shelter in an abandoned house yesterday afternoon. Our original intentions were to continue travelling through the city towards the next route. Only one more to pass through after this one and we would go south through the forest area and reach Accumula Town or somewhere closer. It all depended on the direction we were going. But upon arrival in this city, we were approached by two trainers wanting to capture us and add us to their team, but we were saved from fighting and from the trainers by the help of two Pokemon who had helped us escape bringing us back to their home to rest up for the night. Two Pidove's, one male and one female, a couple living in this city who saw us being cornered by the trainers and our desperate pleads to let us go decided to help us escape. Was it out of the goodness of stranger's hearts? Or was there some kind of meaning to it all? Whatever the reason to it we were grateful they came along when they did.

All they told us when they brought us back to their home was they saw us and said we needed help and nothing to it. We believed them, but we felt as though there was something more too why they helped us, but we decided to stay silent about instead of being intrusive.

"Breakfast not too far away I hope…" The female Pidove yawned as she flapped her wings. "I try not to worry too much, but food lately here has been on the low count. So we'll try to help out for you two as much as we can try."

"No you don't have to do that. We have already got some food in the bag." I opened my bag and showed the Pidove our food stashed inside. "We should be the ones offering you some food after you came to help us from those trainers by the city entrance."

"You're our guests here." She chuckled. "Don't worry about us, we'll do fine. And what we did yesterday was nothing at all. We were just in the area when those trainers tried to capture you."

"Mmm, this is really good." Aqua smiled as she nibbled on her leftover Pokeblock's she was given last night by the Pidove's wanting to use up less food from our saviors as little as possible not wanting to take advantage of their hospitality.

We were in the dining room of the house all gathered around a small electric lantern one of the Pidove's apparently had for reasons they didn't explain as how they managed to acquire such item or how they knew how to use it, but it gave us light to see all the dust and torn wallpapered walls exposing the dry wood underneath and we were just fine by that.

The abandoned house we were in was located somewhere northeast of the city, a neighbourhood with several other houses no one lives in due to some redevelopment plan underway or something. That was five years ago, and this abandoned neighborhood has gained a lot of rumors that this area is haunted giving a theory for the halt in redevelopment, or the workers were just lazy as some people had guessed. 

"So you two are planning on leaving today?" The male Pidove asked, shutting off the lantern as the sun began to rise over the city, the suns light shining through the old newspapers stuck on the windows. "Wish you could stay longer. We know these humans nearby who sing karaoke. We sometimes join in on their bizarre ways!"

"Thanks, but we still have to get going." Aqua looked at me as she finished swallowing her last bit of food. We were careful not to tell them who we were or who were after us. "We need to get back home. There are friends and family who are waiting for us to come home. Being on the road this long must have them worried sick."

"We can't have that then. If you'd like, we could take you to the exit of the city. We know a way that is off the main path and away from the humans." The female Pidove asked. Both me and Aqua looked at each other and nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Oh not at all. But we can't leave now. I recommend we leave at dawn, we'll run into far less people on the path if we leave earlier that we know of experience with this city after living in it for years. We had figured out which route to take; when it'll be busy and when it'll be almost empty safe for the travelling."

"Yeah, that could work." Aqua again nodded. "And besides, I still need to finish cleaning up my wounds from yesterday's battle." Aqua lifted her right arm to show an unhealed wound she received by the Meowth and Meowstic.

"I could help you with that if you'd like." The female Pidove offered as she pointed at her wound with her wing.

"Really? Thanks a lot."

"Let's find a place with a little more light." The female Pidove flapped her wings as she got up, guiding Aqua out of the room. "We'd use the light in here, but we do need to preserve the power."

Aqua looked back at me before she got up as I passed her the bag for her to take. "Its okay, go and get yourself healed up. I'll be alright here." She smiled at me before following the Pidove out of the room. My head turned back around at the male Pidove as he started chuckling.

"Heh, I know that look. I have seen that look many times in my life." The male Pidove chuckled again. "You're in love with her, huh?"

"Huh?" I was taken aback by this, half unsure how to response and the other half shocked by the sudden question Pidove laid upon me.

"You can deny it all you want, but I saw the way you were looking at her from when you two first came into our home up until this morning when she offered you some of her food to eat. Call me an annoying watcher, but you two definitely have a connection with each other, that I can tell."

I didn't try to deny it; I had noticed for some time that I was starting to see Aqua in a different way. First I saw her as a friendly companion when we first met, someone to help me while living in the hideout, but then we became good friends, the best of friends as we got to knew each other and travelled together. As time passed I was starting to feel as though there could be something more to us. But I never quite did because I was too afraid to do so, unsure of the outcome if I did, or afraid of what may happen; rejection and our friendship deteriorating or something. I didn't know how to ask her or the best way I could start things off without sounding too awkward. "She means a lot to me. But I don't know if I have ever done this before."

"Well what does Aqua like? Have you ever considered giving her something, like a gift perhaps?"

"A gift? But what would Aqua want?" I asked more to myself than the male Pidove. "She likes ice cream more than anyone I have ever met… I think that is. A medical book to learn new techniques on how to cure injured Pokemon?" I glanced at my bag and lifted it up. It was slightly heavy for how much food and supplies we already had, plus there wouldn't be much room for more things to fit inside, it could only hold small items now, and I didn't want to have to get rid of most of the stuff.

"How about something small?" The male Pidove suggested, and so I listened in to what kind of thing that may help. "Something that isn't heavy or too large for you or her to carry. But it can't be just anything; it's got to be from the heart."

"From the heart…" I thought about Aqua and what she might like. She wears a pink ribbon on top of her head, a prized possession she was given from her mother when she was young. But thinking about it here didn't help, I needed some fresh air. "I'm going to go out for a while to get some air. Tell Aqua I'm just going to be down the street." I told the Pidove, he nodded and showed me to the door that would lead me out into the abandoned neighborhood.

* * *

****

**Black City – Streets**

After squeezing through the broken wire fence preventing anyone from entering, I found myself on the main streets again and walked down it hoping I could find what I was looking for. I wandered the streets at first trying to think of something I could get for Aqua while I was out here, but another I felt as though I had been down this street before; knowing the corners, the layout, even the buildings had a familiar look to them. _"I might find something nice to take back and give to Aqua here. The question is, what is it?"_ I thought as I walked down the almost empty street, ignoring the looks of people watching a Dewott like me casually walking through the city streets. I looked up at the billboard signs atop the stores and buildings of foods, clothing and special offers for families wanting to go to various locations around the world. _"Maybe I could find a scarf. It is getting a little colder out since the winter is almost here… although that might be a bad idea since the scarf could get caught up on a bush or a tree branch if we fight more of Purrloin's gang the more we travel. I should think more on what to get."_

My walking eventually stopped when I noticed a small crowd near the Pokemon Center with a large blue stall and people wearing red and white uniforms up front. I wasn't sure what this was about but I was curious to get a closer look. Most if not all of the people in the crowd didn't seem to notice me when I got a little further inside of the crowd, eventually finding my way to the front where Pokemon were standing in front, so I walked up and joined them wanting to know what was up.

Five Pokemon were up front while the trainers were behind them as two woman wearing red and white striped uniforms holding a box. "Wow, I can't believe we're going to get one." I heard an Eevee say to a Diglett next to him. "Only temporarily so I can decide what form I wish to take." I watched as one of the women knelt down to the first Pokemon, a Servine and gave it something from the box before moving onto the next Pokemon. The other woman was handed another box by a male employee and knelt down next to the Pokemon I was standing next to, a Lopunny. The woman passed her the small object before she moved in front of me and passed me what the others were given.

It was a small light gray ball with a string attached to a small piece of metal circle drilled into the stone that fit nicely in the palm of my paw. It was an Everstone. I knew what Everstone's were then and there, the shape, the color, and small circular patterns on it. That they prevented a Pokemon from evolving when held, and Aqua did say she didn't want to evolve to the final form. It was a nice gift, but to me it wasn't enough, I wanted to give a little more to show that I cared for her. Smiling, I walked away from the crowd happy with this gift not hearing from one of the trainers complaining how their Pokemon didn't get an Everstone since they were only giving out five today instead of six. I thought them giving out Everstone's were some kind of free gift thing than an actual award ceremony for Pokemon who had won the gym battle that week.

I walked around the city for a while, finding myself in the residential area of the city to think more of what I wanted to do, that little extra thing I could give her. I found a small set of bushes I easily hid behind should anyone see me and attempt to catch me, not wanting to have to repeat what had happened last night. I looked up at the blue sky to see clouds above, so I rested my head back on the grass and watched the clouds. _"A flower may be nice." _I thought as I noticed a cloud forming in the shape of a flower. _"But it won't last long and that'll be it. Maybe I could talk to her."_

I then imagined myself standing in front of Aqua and presenting the Everstone necklace to her. "Zack… t-this necklace is so beautiful. Where did you get it?" She blushed, almost in tears as she accepted the necklace, and then there was me just standing there without saying anything.

Aqua's expression changed rapidly from excitement to a rather dull expression, disappointment I think. "Is that all? Kind of looks tacky."

"C'mon, she would never say that." I shook my head and held up the necklace to get a better look at it. A blue stone with a black piece of string tied to it. It seemed fine to me and I was trying to stay positive that Aqua would like it too. So I stayed there and tried to think of another scenario. A scenario on one where I actually said something other than staying silent.

"An Everstone necklace? Zack… I don't know what to say…" She blushed after giving her the necklace. I cleared my throat and nervously told her…

"I got this from the city earlier when I was out." I held her paws with my own and stared at her nose rather than her eyes for some reason. "Aqua, I am in love with you." Then after saying that nothing happened. No 'wha!?' or blush, nothing but silence making this whole thing awkward, then suddenly it turned super awkward as she let go of my paws and walked away. The Pidove's who were watching this time flew up onto my shoulders.

"Ouch, Zack, that was really rough. You just lost both our respects and Aqua as a friend. Never show up in this city again." I gasped and shivered at that thought, hating how my mind was showing me these thoughts when I wanted some kind of positivity or hope. So I tried again…

"Aqua…" I said after showing and giving her the Everstone necklace and watching as she gasped and asked me where I got it from. "This necklace, there is more to it than just me a friend giving you a gift, there is more to it. For some time, fell as though-" But suddenly, the wall of the house exploded as Purrloin and her gang entered.

"Surprise! Get them gang!" She ordered as hundreds of her gang entered the house and fought with us as we tried to escape. After some time we found a place to stay inside a small cave off the next route, both giving us time to rest and time to continue what I was about to say in the house.

"Aqua, I would like to continue what I was going to say." I sat next to Aqua and held her paw. "That necklace I gave to you… um, it's my way on saying that I… like y-" Then like when we were back in the house, the cave walls exploded and Purrloin and her gang were there to attack us, and we fought them off and ran again. Then after finding a place to stay, we were found, attacked, and we ran, found a place to hide, and rinse and repeat.

Looking up at the clouds I sighed, finding myself lost on what to do. _"That last thought does happen a lot to us; we find peace, trouble finds us, we fight and run, then back to the beginning again…"_ I rolled over to my side and stared at the flowers instead at the clouds. I thought of Aqua instead of just the plan to give her the necklace and the next thing to say to her and just thought of her, her smile, her laugh, not wanting to lose any of that. _"This is the eighth time I have thought of her like this. She's great, she's fun to be around… and then there's me, a Dewott with hardly any memory of who he is, different colored to a normal Dewott, black and red eyes or eye with an eye patch and multiple scars all over my body. What do I have?"_ I thought about from the moment we first met up until now_. "I didn't make jokes, I was somewhat quiet on our journey sometimes, unsure what to say after each thing someone said to me but I answered as best as I could. But I was there for her, I always listened and comforted her… is that all I have? The only thing special about me is the way I look? Looks shouldn't matter…"_ I didn't want to come across as boring to her or have her laugh at me if I did try and give her the necklace and tell her how I fell. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the sky watching a plane fly overhead. _"I wonder how many are on that. I wonder where it's going. Where am I going with Aqua and I? Can it ever get anywhere? An Everstone Necklace and nothing more to it other than an awkward speech to go with it… *sighs* it'll never work. Why did I ever think of something so stupid?"_

I tried once more to think about a different kind of scenario to this whole thing. I was not in the house this time but I was in field of flowers this time, not the same one those Roselia sisters tried to keep there as their mate or something, but a different one, an endless field, blue sky, warm weather. I approached Aqua as she was kneeling down behind a beautiful bed of flowers, attempting to pick at them to make a new flower necklace, but for some reason couldn't find the strength to do so. I gave her the Everstone necklace and knelt down in front of her and held her paws. "Aqua, I've been meaning to say this for some time now, it's kind of difficult for me to just- oh the heck with it! Aqua, I… would you like to go out with me? Heh, I know we're still travelling, not yet made it home, but uh… I would like to be with you."

"Zack I…" Aqua looked down at the necklace in her paws and looked up at me with a smile. "I would like to be with you." Her words sent a smile over my face as she pulled me in to hug me. That thought itself made me smile and kind of hopeful she would accept. But one thing was on my mind, something that was bugging me a lot; it was the familiarity of doing something like this before with another… Latias, but I didn't remember her or how much we were in love, so I just shrugged it off thinking more awkward thoughts would come up again, thinking that feeling before was more bad thoughts coming. If I had known about Latias, well this wouldn't happen, and Aqua and I would remain friends. But all thanks to my memory all erased I didn't know. So I tried to stay positive and think about what more I wanted to say to her before returning back to the house.

* * *

****

**Abandoned Neighborhood **

I returned at a somewhat slower rate standing in front of the house were Aqua was in, nervous at how close I was till I would know what her answer would be after giving her this gift. I opened my paw to look at the necklace, I would give her this necklace and the easy part would be over, then would come the next thing; to talk to her about how I feel. It wouldn't be easy, but if I told her what I wanted to say simply and without dragging on too long, then I would only hope things would be fine, regardless of the outcome. I didn't know how she would take it, but if she did reject me then all I ask is for everything to be the same still and we would still be friends.

With a deep breath I walked in a little more confident than I was earlier. The dining room was empty, but the living room was where everyone was. Standing at the doorway unnoticed by any one of them, I watch Aqua and listened in as she told the Pidove's all about the fireworks we saw in Mistralton City back when Aqua was staying at a Pokemon Center after being injured in the Chargestone Cave. She was saying how much she enjoyed all of that and wished she could see it again along with eating some ice cream while watching it. That which sparked the curiosity of the Pidove's on what ice cream was, and so she told them all about it; how cold it is, what happens if you eat it too fast, the many flavors you can get, and saying how delicious it was.

She stopped and looked back at the doorway to see me standing there. "Oh, Zack! Where did you go?" She got up and walked to me. This was it, a gift first then the talk would begin. It was all happening so fast I almost panicked, but I stood my ground and smiled at her as I slowly brought up my paw with the necklace and showed it to her.

"I was walking around the city and I found this. It's an Everstone necklace, I uh, want you to have it." I cleared my throat, feeling it begin to tighten.

She took it in her paws and examined the stone with a blush, giving me a smile. As she closed the gap between us and hugged me. "Zack, this is beautiful. You didn't have to do that." Aqua put on the necklace and admired her gift, lifting the stone up with her paw up to her eyes to look at the circular patterns closer. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome. Um, i…" I stopped myself, looking around the room, the dust covered floor, the destroyed walls and gloomy atmosphere. I shook my head. "We should get ready to go soon."

"Yeah." She nodded . "Pidove said we should be ready in a few minutes from now. We were just waiting on you." She held the stone in her paw and before she walked back to the dining room to gather up the medical supplies and food we left, she gave me one last smile before doing so.

I didn't do it. I wanted to tell her another time, perhaps somewhere nicer than a broken down home, a dark atmosphere kind of reminding me of Purrloin's hideout, I wanted somewhere brighter, fresher than this. Although it didn't start anything, it did give me time to think about how I wanted to tell her. I just hoped the remainder of our journey would be a safe one so I can have another chance on telling her.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Message Recording from Team Annihilation Soldier No.0724**

**Unknown date of recording**

**Location of tape was found in Castelia City Darkrai's Comic Book Store**

"Travis here on night eight on duty. The doc told us to keep talking into these dairy things when given the chance, we were given these to help us cope with the isolation we have most days. Tch… the heck is that doc smoking? These don't help at all, yet I still talk into these things..."

*Shuffling can be heard in the recording.*

"Twenty of us here in the city searching for the target Shiny Latias wants us to find, some Dewott that's a different color or something, supposed to be incredibly dangerous if you enrage him… I don't know."

Again, shuffling can be heard in the recording. Closer inspection from our team has picked out mumbling from another soldier nearby.

"Not sure why the boss wants the Dewott captured, and frankly I don't care. However, what I do want to know is why we only have a maximum of twenty of us soldiers here in this city searching for the Pokemon when there should at least be hundreds. Well, I suppose not all together since if we are searching for the Dewott we don't want to scare it, but c'mon, this is a big city. Kind of like searching for a needle in a haystack almost. Speaking of the other soldiers or attempting to will result in punishment by the damn captain of the team, saying we can't do that and must stay completely silent and talk into these stupid dairies… seven months since I last had an actual conversation with anyone other than the doc. I want to say something about… the captain, the soldiers, this whole team thing, and the boss, how they run the place and the harsh things she does to her allies and civilians, but I would only face punishment for doing so. It kinda makes me want to do so anyway so I can let loose and finally talk to someone, anything…"

"Punishments… the boss has this power she has unlike any Pokemon I know. The thing about it is that it is very hard to break free from or perhaps impossible. She controls you if you look into her eyes, even if it's a small glimpse she has you under her control to do… anything she desires; clean the dishes, train in combat until you have it mastered without sleep or rest, hurt someone, kill someone… man, I once saw a guy working with us who was punished by her. Had him punch a brick wall without any gloves on for ten hours straight, the amount of blood was insane. He broke both of his hands; the doc said he can never use his hands anymore, destroyed them completely, so the boss after hearing this decided to kill him after seeing he was no use to us… all because he was tired after training… poor guy…"

*The tape ends. Immediately after the last recording, another voice other than the soldier talks into the diary. It is the voice of Shiny Latias.*

"Travis, oh how foolish you are, sitting right next to me with that blank face of yours. That last recording… I didn't like it, but you made the mistake of actually leaving a recording, leaving evidence on your little diary. Did you really think none of us listens in on your so-called private time? Well, now you are punished. This recording will be on your dairy until the day you die as a reminder that you are punished. So go ahead, try and talk into the mic… travis."

*Shuffling can be heard very close to the diary, but no voice other than Shiny Latias can be heard.*

"I'll let you keep this diary, so you can remember what your voice sounded like before I took it away from you. You're still a soldier, so I'll make you fight up front, maybe if the silence is getting to you, feel free to take the bullet for your allies. With my ability, I will always make you be up front in combat, so who knows, maybe you'll die tomorrow. So until then, be a good soldier and search the city for Zack instead of slacking off."

The tape ends here.


	33. Chapter 33 A Chance

Chapter 33 – A Chance

* * *

****

**Route 13**

In the middle of Route 12 off the main road within a clearing were many wild Pokemon were said to be best to catch there. The best chance on catching a variety of different Pokemon, some providing the trainer with a good challenge, while others not so much. But instead of the peaceful wild Pokemon on this route were Pokemon from another area of the region, Pokemon from Castelia City, a gang of Pokemon taking over the area temporarily while they rested and recruited more Pokemon to join their cause, Pokemon following a vile Pokemon named Purrloin on the hunt for me and Aqua.

On one side of the clearing were the new recruits who had joined Purrloin's gang with the promise of food, a place to stay, a strong clan to be a part of, but in doing so they must help them track down Aqua and I. On the other side of the clearing was a small cave surrounded by Houndoom's and Machoke's all to protect Purrloin as she sat not too far from it asking her new recruits questions, to check whether or not they are right for her team.

Sitting on a rock was Purrloin talking to a female Deerling sitting quietly on a small patch of grass as she answered every question Purrloin threw at her with a smile. 

"So my dear, what makes you think you belong with us?" Purrloin asked sweetly to the female Deerling sitting across from her.

"Well, I heard from the Houndoom that you are looking for Pokemon to join your clan promising food, a place to stay, like living with a big family always there for you. Sounds like my kind of place." The female Deerling smiled back at Purrloin, nervous at first because of the intimidating bodyguards surrounding her, but felt relaxed at Purrloin's peaceful and friendly tone she was giving off. "I know four moves I feel will be beneficial to you and my future allies in battle. I am well experienced in battle, so I'm not afraid to get my hooves dirty."

"Well, we do need all the Pokemon we can get for our family to get bigger and stronger. We also need Pokemon to help us with a bit of a problem." Purrloin shifted in her seat as she begun to talk about the real reason she wanted Pokemon to join her gang. "A shiny female Oshawott by the name of Aqua has kidnapped my beloved, my future mate Zack. He is a white Dewott with a red and black eye wearing an eye patch over his left eye, covered in scars all over his body. We need all the help we can get to find this traitor Oshawott and save Zack. Can you please find it in your heart to help a desperate Purrloin search for her mate from this horrible Oshawott? I cry every night I am apart from my beloved." She wiped her eyes as a stray tear dripped down her face.

This however gained sympathy from the Deerling and offered her hoof placing it on Purrloin's lap to comfort her. "Please don't cry. I see you are in need of help. I will help you find this Oshawott and help you reunite with your beloved."

"T-thank you." Purrloin got up from the rock she was sitting on and hugged the Deerling. "Thank you so much. And I promise by the end of this, you will be welcomed into our home as one of us. Thank you Deerling! Now go join with the others, we have so much to do, we must all give it our all before we being with the search in two days."

Deerling smiled and walked with the Houndoom as he guided her to where the other Pokemon Purrloin had recruited into her gang, training for the upcoming battle. Purrloin scoffed and turned towards her other bodyguards standing behind her. "Another pawn to our precious family." The bodyguards; Houndoom's, Machoke's, and a Lucario all agreed. "Eww, did you hear how sickly sweet that Deerling sounded? If I wasn't in need of new recruits I certainly wouldn't recruit her. I probably would throw her into a river myself after showing her strong I am first. And when she touched me…" She shuddered. "I almost attacked her for doing so… But I suppose a pawn has its use in the end, better to keep them now instead of throwing them away. Eh, she can be a shield for you guys." She pointed at her bodyguard, gesturing with her other paw for the next recruit, but before doing so she rubbed her eyes and splashed some water at her eyes from a water canister the Lucario held for her. As soon as the new recruit walked in, Purrloin was attempting to dry her 'tears' from her eyes, gasping in her speech, anything to get the Pokemon to join her gang, something that had worked twenty out of twenty-five times, the other times she had to win them over with other methods, promises of food, shelter, a place to be safe. It is not known what would've happened if one or more of the twenty-seven that was recruited into her gang had declined to join; it wouldn't have been pretty, that I know. 

As the day progressed more Pokemon joined her cause, her number now was in the forties. Most ready to fight, most not knowing the real reason for me and Aqua leaving the hideout. A lie saying Aqua betrayed her and stole me from her was what a few knew but still willing to stay and fight with Purrloin because out here they didn't have a home, but with her they did. Purrloin walked through the camp watching her allies as they trained and prepared themselves for the fight to come. Lucian, her right hand approached from the forest to join with her to report on the hunt for us. But this report from Lucian wasn't something she wanted to hear right about now, especially so close to the new recruits fearing they would listen in and figure out the real reason why me and Aqua left her hideout, just like the others had done so after we did.

"I was scouting ahead and figured the Dewott and the Oshawott are heading towards Route 15. If we use the shortcuts the Latias has suggested we use to patrol the areas we should be able to cut them off and capture them." The Buizel scoffed as he walked with Purrloin. "I don't see why we need to go after the stupid Dewott. Let's just go back home and we can go back to our normal lives running the city like before he showed up."

"Lucian… shut up." She sighed, coming to a stop at the cave entrance she used to sleep in, guarded by several of her guards. "As you can see, some of the new recruits are looking at us." Lucian glanced over his shoulder to see that there were a few eyes from the new recruits looking right at them. Purrloin quietly continued to talk to Lucian, holding back on lashing out at him. "I am trying to keep them with us. I want to keep them on our side for as long as possible, maybe even up until the moment we return home and they can fill the gaps on those other traitorous Pokemon who escaped home when the Oshawott stole Zack away from me. I do not want them thinking I am a horrible Pokemon or some crazy Pokemon as some traitorous Pokemon have told me before leaving."

"I'm sorry for opening my mouth in front of these annoying eavesdroppers." He chuckled. "But these idiots, we don't need them. We are stronger together with the original team back home-" Purrloin turned around and grabbed him by the neck.

"There is hardly anyone back there if the 'original' go back. It'll be a ghost town for the amount remaining; bodyguards, an old medic… t-that's it. No scavengers to get food or medical supplies outside, no one to run the stores, the activities, we need them!" Purrloin stopped herself as she realized she had caused a scene, some her bodyguards, Pokemon she trusted and came with her to search for me and Aqua, but the most attention were from the new recruits. She feared they would leave her because of this, she would have no help on the attack, her plan would fail and feared the rest of her followers would soon leave her, and she would be alone. Purrloin felt her heart beating fast at the thought and so she let go of Lucian's neck and smiled. "Of Lucian you kidder!" She lightly punched his shoulder. "That joke you told me about the Pikachu on fire was so hilarious, you've done it again you silly Buizel, you!" She laughed as she patted Lucian's shoulder, watching the new recruits as they slowly turned back to what they were doing before her sudden outburst. Purrloin wrapped her arm around Lucian's shoulder and sighed as she spoke as calmly as she could. "Now Lucian, I want you to be quiet, especially about Zack and Aqua. These new recruits are needed for when we take the bitch down and overthrow her for what she did. And who knows, they might serve as good shields, as good distractions to fight off against that Latias who thinks she can control us. As if I would hand her Zack after we find her. Hah, fat chance of that ever happening."

Lucian nodded, but was then shoved away from Purrloin. "Now go get some rest for tomorrow. We begin with training again tomorrow bright an early." Purrloin slowly returned inside the cave, ignoring Lucian as he scoffed and walked away, quietly muttering.

"If that damned Dewott and his annoying Oshawott didn't show up I would be relaxing at home right about now, instead of doing any of this…" he sighed, finally getting as far away from Purrloin's bodyguard's as he could. It was where he could be safe t say what he wanted to without Purrloin finding out and punishing him for it. "Once I find that Dewott I'll slit his throat." 

* * *

**Audino's POV**

Being the medic in Purrloin's was long and yet hard. Treating Pokemon daily was no easy task, especially if I was on my own. For the most part I was until I met Aqua, she became my student, someone I thought once she knew everything about medical would be my assistant when treating Pokemon when injured or sick whenever they leave the hideout, someone to fill in for me if I ever got sick. Aqua was my best student even though I had only ever had just the one, she was a quick learner and very eager to learn and study hard. I thought finally I had someone to help me out here in the hideout, but then Purrloin had to take things the wrong way and tried to kill her with a hammer to the head, but Zack intervened and was struck instead to the shoulder blade. It was an intervention that doom Zack's and Aqua's position here amongst Purrloin's gang, so they had to flee, but not without our help of course. I looked at Metagross as he had already finished cleaning half of the remaining Potions we had left. He and I helped the two escape from the hideout, we were wanting to escape soon after, but Purrloin had gathered us all in one place and ordered us all to go out and search for them within the city assisted with a bodyguard thus preventing us from escaping. However, some did manage to escape which infuriated Purrloin so much she started lashing out at some of the other gang members giving me more work to do. But soon we were caught by human soldiers and a Shiny Latias asking us in human tongue if we saw Zack. Purrloin told her about the time he was with us in the hideout, but had escaped and we were out searching for them to bring back, and so a deal was made. Shiny Latias asked Purrloin to find Zack and promised to help them along the way by giving us supplies we would need such as healing items and food, but sadly no assistance while treating the many Pokemon injured while out there searching for Zack and Aqua.

"That should do it…" Metagross groaned after cleaning the bottle of Potion, placing it down nicely with the other bottles he had cleaned up. "That's what I'll be saying after finishing the other twenty bottles."We were sat together outside the medic camp, a huge area able to fit a maximum of ten Pokemon underneath a large white sheet given to us by the humans working for the shiny Latias, one of a few things they helped us with while out here.

"Lucky. You are almost done and yet I still have to treat six of our Pokemon." I craned my neck, feeling my shoulders becoming sorer by the minute. I hadn't slept in days, hardly ate anything because Purrloin ordered me to work until the six Pokemon were all healed up otherwise I would be punished. "I'm so exhausted… I don't know how I can still do this."

"Audino…" He grumbled as he looked up at Purrloin's cave. Two days ago when he demanded Purrloin that I take a rest and that I should be treated better, Purrloin enraged at this branded him a scar on top of his head 'be grateful that I didn't kill you!' was all she said about it and forced me to work twice as hard. Try to fight or make one single mistake you will be punished for it, accomplish the task and all you get is more work later, no reward. For a while me and Metagross had planned on leaving Purrloin's gang, gathered our items and travelling gear together to make a run for it the best chance we got, but never could because of our fatigue we'd get from all this work, trying to find rest and opportunities whenever possible but never came close. We tried for months to leave after leaving the city, slowly on the verge on giving up on trying. I gasped when I felt his paw touch mine so suddenly, so cold. "I can help out once I'm done cleaning with all of these Potions. I'm halfway done with them, so I can help you out in thirty minutes."

I wanted to tell him why that was a bad idea, another Pokemon helping another even though they both have different jobs, the Pokemon here would always find another job for them to do eventually, doing so was punishable and I didn't want to see Metagross being hurt. Before I could, we both turned our head forward as Purrloin was standing there in front of us shaking her head.

"Now what is this?" Purrloin said as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Are you kidding me with what I am seeing here? Two Pokemon resting when they still have tons of work left to do. Audino here needs to heal those poor, poor Pokemon hurt by the evil Oshawott and the harsh wild Pokemon out there in this cruel, cruel world, crying in agony as their injuries have gone untreated." I looked at Metagross and he at me. Neither one of the Pokemon in the medical tent were 'crying in agony' as Purrloin said they were. "And the Metagross has left bottles of Potion unclean here when these poor, poor Pokemon need them for their harsh injuries to be treated." Purrloin walked closer to me, smiling at me as she raised her paw toward me. "Audino, why are you so slow on treating my Pokemon?" Purrloin smiled at me as she slowly raised her paw up to my neck, lightly scratching me with her claws. "Are you growing tired? Do you need rest? Well if you do, who's going to treat the injured Pokemon while they should be out there searching for the treacherous Oshawott stealing my Zack away from me!?" Purrloin's bodyguards appeared from behind the trees around us, watching and holding back Metagross trying to help me.

"Purrloin please, I have been working for almost twenty-four hours now without rest trying to heal all I can." I tried to back away from Purrloin, but no matter how much I backed away from her, Purrloin would follow digging her claws deeper into me. "If you give me rest, tomorrow I'll work twice as hard. If that's not good enough I'll work three times as hard."

I had my back against the tree, watching in fear as Purrloin pressed her claws against my neck. A little blood trickled from my neck and down onto my chest. "Very well. I shall grant you to get at least some rest. So rest while you can, because tomorrow you will be woken up at sunrise tomorrow were you will resume working until all Pokemon at medical is all healed up and ready to fight." She smiled, and then turned to Metagross being held by her bodyguards. "Or Metagross will have himself an accident. And you may find yourself having two jobs; healing the injured, and burying your mate in the dirt." She let go of my neck and backed away to return to her cave. Thankfully for her she didn't attract the attention from any of the new recruits, only her bodyguards were the audience here, holding Metagross back as he tried to step in, but like me he barely had any sleep and hardly any strength left n him for the worry he had for me with my endless work.

With the bodyguards gone, Metagross ran up to me asking if I was alright, checking my neck and hoped Purrloin didn't stab me too deep. Physically I was alright, but mentally I wasn't. I just wanted to be free of this, free from Purrloin and her gang. I looked at Metagross and held him as he held me and whispered. "I'm ready to leave. I have had enough of her."

Metagross looked at me and whispered back. "We did plan on escaping when given the chance. But we hardly have any energy for an escape attempt… and even if we do try, I worry what'll happen to us if we are caught."

"What'll happen to us if we can't do our jobs they force upon us? If we make mistakes, they hurt us, scar us, break a few limbs, and keep us up until the job is done?" I suppose I didn't care about it anymore. Purrloin needed me since I was the only medic here in her gang. But Metagross… all he did was clean the supplies, Purrloin wouldn't need him. If we were caught, we would be punished, she would kill him… then I suppose I wouldn't have a reason to keep on living if that happened. There was nothing for me here or out there. We were old, we had lived our lives, and we wanted out final years alive to be out there, to be free. "We will do it. Today may be our last day as a prisoner of Purrloin, but tonight we may be free." I almost smiled at the word 'free' "What would you want to do first?"

"If I were younger, I would liked to climb mountains like I did in my youth." he chuckled as we helped each other finish cleaning up and returning back to our tree at the edge of the camp. It was an almost unoccupied section of the camp except for two other Pokemon who kept to themselves and slept a lot.

"Oh, I remember you once told me about that."

"But I don't think this old Pokemon can handle mountains anymore. So I have to tackle small hills as a substitute. What about you?"

I thought about it, yet there was one thing I could think of. "Running through tall grass. Back when I was young and before we met, I did that a lot on break when I was still an Audino working at a Pokemon Center. It was fun. And I think you'll like it too."

"Heh, I don't know the appeal to running in the grass, but I'll have to experience this myself to see why you liked it so much."

I was nervous that day, finding myself shivering as each minute passed by closer to the time me and Metagross would leave Purrloin and her gang. That night whilst trying so much to stay relaxed and happy to spend perhaps the last moments with Metagross if we were caught I spent them anxious and feeling sick, and quite possibly Metagross too felt the same way as I was feeling then. Not knowing if we would make it or not, that this was our last day together. The night slowly came for us, Pokemon retired for the night, jobs finished for most Pokemon, some forced to stay awake until the job was finished with others, kinder ones still within Purrloin's gang we wished we could help. We did manage to get ourselves some rest for the night, gathering our supplies and planning out our escape route, a route we would take through the trees near us and keep heading north for as long as we possibly could. We knew that route was one that wasn't well guarded. Purrloin had sent her guards to patrol the east and northern section of the area.

When the time came, we got up slowly and checked our surroundings before we moved out. One wrong move and it could jeopardize our escape. Everyone was asleep and no one was looking our way, the guards were busy talking to each other near Purrloin's cave she was sleeping in. Me and Metagross looked at each other before moving out slowly through the trees as first, then at a pace between a walk and run, until we ran as fast as we could yet careful we would not run into any or Purrloin's guards patrolling the area. Thankfully we never did encounter hers or the human soldier's watching Purrloin and her gang for months now.

We didn't know if Purrloin and her gang would ever find us again with a few days, weeks or months, but we had to keep going and stay in hiding for a long time. I didn't know what ever happened to my student Aqua or Zack, if they ever made it back home, I never saw them again. But I wished them luck on their journey and prayed for their safety wherever they may be.

Still running and we both looked at each other as we ran a smile on both of our faces as we both felt like free Pokemon for the first time in years.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter was originally one of the five side stories featured after the main story. But since those side stories were all done and already finished with i had t make a new chapter involving the fate of Audino and Metagross.


	34. Chapter 34 Memories

Chapter 34 - Memories

* * *

****

**Black City**

It had been some time since I last spoke with Espeon in my dreams, I was beginning to worry that something had happened to her, if she was alright back home. She didn't talk about the last battle we were in that much, just talking to me about the route I was on and the landmarks we were nearing, the followers of the one who did this to me was near and in waiting. I wanted to tell her all that has happened recently, to ask her about Leo Valentine and if she knew who he was, but all I ever got were simple dreams and no Espeon to talk to.

The Pidove's yesterday had brought us halfway through the city set on guiding us towards the exit, but we were seen by three trainers trying to capture us after we emerged from the bushes too early and impatiently after taking a quick rest behind tall bushes that helped conceal all of us from the humans passing by. Thankfully none of us were captured by the trainers, the Pidove's flew away after giving them a good fight, and we managed to hide behind trashcans in an alley between a set of two tall buildings, so it was just me and Aqua now on our own to get out of this city and continue to Route 15.

"Is the coast clear?" Aqua asked while I peeked out at the side of the trashcans to get a look out into the main street we lost the trainers chasing us.

"Sort of, they're not there anymore chasing us. But we can't go back out this way, too many people occupying the streets. We'll have to find another way out of this city on our own." I walked back to Aqua leaning back against the building wall.

"I hope they're alright. I would've liked to at least thank them for all they did for us." She sighed and turned her head down the alley, a kind of dark one full of dirt and trash everywhere, a landfill right in the city as if neglected. It gave off an unpleasant smell from just being right at the entrance. "Where do you think this leads?"

"Hopefully out into a quieter street and back on the path towards the exit." I said as I got up, walking first into the alley to make sure the coast was clear before we moved on. The alley after walking further inside was nothing but a dead end, a dead end with trash all over the place. Although if it weren't for a few broken windows on one of the buildings I'd say this alley was a no go, but an open window may lead us on finding a way out of this place. Carefully and trying to imagine myself walking on something cleaner towards the window to get a look inside to see if anyone was in the building. When I reached the window I took a long look inside and listened in closely. It was bright, cleaner than outside but the smell out here found its way inside, so we'd have to endure it for a little while longer. It seemed to be abandoned and no signs of anyone inside, and good enough for us.

"Eww… eww… eww… ugh, so gross!" She squirmed after walking over all of that trash and climbing in the window after following me, refusing to let go of my paw not wanting to fall into that trash. Once inside, Aqua lifted her foot up to look at her soles and sighed. "I'm going to need a bath once we get out of this city. I'm feeling like the smell of that outside and in here is clinging to my fur… yuck! Thank goodness I evolved into a Dewott. The higher I am away from the ground, the better. Or I'd probably get you to carry me if I was still an Oshawott." That was probably true, but walking on that trash pile I almost did lose my balance more than once, it probably would've made Aqua panic a lot more than she did.

Inside we found no human or Pokemon within this building, either it was the smell from the trash outside or the broken down walls and old furniture left over from the previous occupants, we were just glad we had a moment to ourselves and find a way out peacefully without any trouble.

The ground floor didn't have much except for graffiti sprayed on the walls and more trash and an old sleeping bag left over, signs obviously someone had been in here and trashed the place, maybe even trashed the alley and filled it with all of that junk. The windows of the building were mostly boarded up but some windows like the ones on the east side of the building had some gaps so we could get a look outside; it was another street, less occupied than the one we came from. It looked promising and could be our best way out, but we stayed a little while longer in this building to check for other ways we can get out of here, maybe a way we can get out of this building which outside we may find a path with tall bushes and grass leading us directly towards the city exit, a few minutes south from here. The northern windows of the building had less wooden boards and more old newspaper stuck onto the window, and outside were a lot more people walking through the street, more than the ones from the street we came from. I couldn't see any of the three trainers out there, but the last thing we needed was to draw attention to us from other trainers that may be wandering the streets.

But before I left the window to try the south windows, from the corner of my eyes at the almost faded and torn newspaper I saw the headlines; 'Heroes of Unova' with a picture of a boy and girl I recognized. "Sakura, Isaac." I said, drawing the attention of Aqua as she walked beside me.

"Zack? What is it?" She asked and I pointed at the newspaper stuck on the window. This photo was taken several days after the fall of Team Annihilation, my first year as a member of the Savior's. After the ceremony to rank up in the Savior's, a newspaper journalist came over to us and asked us questions and took photos of us. I stood on the far left, Dewott stood between me and Sakura with Latias beside me on my right, Sakura in the middle with Minccino resting in her arms, and Isaac on the right with his Yamask waving at the photographer. But the only ones you could see in this picture were Sakura and Isaac with their Pokemon, but not me and Latias due to how much of the picture was torn and almost faded, but not Sakura and Isaac, they were still clear. "Oh right, they're your trainers." Aqua took a closer look at the newspaper article and read as much as she could from the old paper. "'Heroes of Unova' 'proved victorious thus ending the ten year war between The Savior's and Team Annihilation bringing peace back to the region.' Hey look!" Aqua pointed at the almost faded Dewott beside Sakura I didn't notice at first. "Is that you, Zack?"

"I don't know…" I looked at the picture of the Dewott, examining the whiskers still visible, round head had no scars on it. But one thing I tried to get a look at through the fading picture was the eyes of the Dewott, trying to see if the Dewott in this picture had the same kind of eyes I had. The eyes were almost black in the picture. I don't know, but I had a feeling that something was off about this picture, that this Dewott wasn't me.

Aqua assumed the Dewott in the picture was me and saying that 'I' looked really young in the photo in my early to mid teens. She tried a few more times to try and read the other newspapers to check whether or not they continued with the article, but all of them were of different pages and didn't continue with the Savior article. "So do you remember which one was your trainer?

"I don't remember." I shook my head. "The only thing I remember is that I travelled with them. All the memories I have of them and yet I know nothing about which one of the two I belonged to. Maybe they weren't my trainer and they were just people I travelled with… I don't know."

Aqua and I walked together towards the south side of the building to check that side to find out if that way was the best option. Maybe we would find a back door or something that'll lead us out of here and towards a safer way out of the city. "I do remember being in this city. A memory of Sakura, Isaac, and me walking through this city. I remember something about Isaac; I know he lives in this city, but not where his home is."

"That's too bad. If we knew then we could contact your family and friends in Nuvema Town, tell them where we are." She sighed. "You must have a lot to tell about your days with The Savior's, with your friends. I'd like to hear about it once your memory comes back. Do you know what The Savior's did?"

"Yeah, a little." I nodded, trying to remember what The Savior's did, the missions we went on, training, the layout of the building I stayed in, the ceremonies. "The Savior's were a group of trained soldier's dedicated to help others across the region, tackling dangerous criminals, gangs and teams that show up every now and again. But that's not all we do, we help people and Pokemon across the region with problems they need help with, a Pokemon who have gone rogue, or sometimes bodyguard duty for some rich politician. I don't remember much about the jobs I did with my trainers, if I did I would tell all I can." I smiled at her as we continued down this decrepit "I wonder what kind of things I actually did or how long I was travelling with them for."

"Must've been long for how old and faded the papers were. Wow, if you were with them for ever since you were a teen, if that Dewott in the picture is you, you must've been really strong." Aqua smiled back. "Once you have recovered your memories, you should remember all of your training from the years being part of The Savior's. Guess I gotta get training to be strong just like you, huh?"

"You are already strong, Aqua. We are evenly matched in terms of strength. So no one here is stronger or weaker than the other."

"Oh really?" Her smile grew wider as she raised her paws up. "Cause I reckon I'm the stronger one here. C'mon, show me what ya got! Don't go easy on me as I will not go easy on you!"

"Hm? So you think just because you are a Dewott now you are stronger than me, huh?" I laughed at what she was trying to do, moving closer to me as she playfully and slowly punched at me, but her strikes missed at first until I raised my own paws.

"I can beat you easily." She lightly punched my arm as I blocked a few of her attacks. "All it takes is to take you down after a few punches and I'll be the voctor and the strongest of the team. Hehe!"

"W-what? Heh, don't like to share on being equel, huh?" I chuckled as I playfully punched her arm lightly back at her as she continuously punched me arm and into my chest a little harder than my punches but not enough to hurt me or cause bruising. "C'mon, show me what ya got!" I'm not sure how this started, but it wasn't unwanted. It had been a while for any of us to be doing this kind of thing, just playing together.

After some time of my trying to block her attacks, I didn't realize it until it was too late. I was backing up a lot and didn't even check to look back at what I was about to back into. Upon hitting my back agains the solid wall, she pinned me to the wall with both of her paws pressed against mine to the wall. "Heh, got you. Guess I win." She smiled, but then silence hit us both immediately after. We looked into each other's eyes for a long time unsure how much time had really passed. Aqua looked down with her eyes, and I followed her eyes down to see she was looking at her necklace I gave her today. Letting go of my paw, with her fingers she lifted the stone up and smiled. "This really is beautiful. Did you um, why did you really give it to me?"

"Hm? Didn't I already tell you? I gave it to you because you said you didn't want to evolve, right?"

"Zack, do you… like me?" She asked shyly, a blush appeared on her face. I felt my face burning up, so obviously I was blushing. In my head I was saying 'Yes' with so many things I wanted to tell her, how much she means to me, how she makes me feel, so many things I wanted to say… but I couldn't. Before when I had thoughts about telling her how I felt earlier, I wanted it to be someplace perfect for us, a place beautiful yet special in a way everything would be right. But a broken down home in the abandon neighborhood, an old smelly building, they weren't the right places for this.

Thoughts began to play in my head; pros and cons, yes or no. Questions and answers of what may happen. What if Aqua asked me if I liked her, and I said I did but she said she didn't think things would work out between us? If I said no, a lie to buy myself some more time until the perfect moment later on our journey, she would think I didn't like her in that way and saw her only as a friend, giving up on a chance we could be together. But when we were play fighting before, I thought I could turn this around, laughing and saying something along the lines of 'of course I do.' Thinking she only meant that we were still friends and nothing else. So I went with that as fast as I could, because this pause was going almost too long for it to be an awkward pause, just us to staring at each other waiting for one to talk.

"Heh, of course I do, Aqua." I smiled as I placed my paw on her shoulder before walking on ahead towards the windows on the south side of the building. "I wouldn't want anyone else to be beside me on our journey. The ice cream, the fun times we have had, the conversations, I wouldn't trade it with anything in the world. Why do you ask?"

"O-oh uh… um, i-it's nothing" she stuttered, shyly looking away from me. I stopped halfway and looked back at Aqua wanting to tell her how I really felt, but I guess I was too much of a wuss to do so.

The first draft in my head of how to say that without going to that route sounded a lot better in my head than out here in the open. Slightly cringing for how awkward it sounded. But at least the conversation dropped and we were now back to focusing on getting out of this building and out of this city again.

Before examining the windows, I glanced over my shoulder to find Aqua still there by the wall holding the Everstone with both paws as if cradling it, softly smiling at it until she caught me staring at her, a smile still on her face.

* * *

Outside I would say we were lucky on finding a back way through the south side of the building door left open and immediately left it to enter a large long section filled with tall trees, bushes and tall grass for us to walk safely down until we would reach the path that would take us to the city exit. This way wasn't originally the way the Pidove's wanted to go, they had another way, a faster one since this one we were taken would last us a twenty minute walk down while the one the Pidove's had wanted would last us half that amount, maybe even less.

We talked the rest of the way since I remembered a little more about this city and the things me and my friends did while we were here. Nothing Savior related, just hanging around with friends and doing stuff. I wanted to talk more since the awkward silence was kind of killing me over here.

"Espeon and I were walking through the city complaining about a movie we watched at the theater." I thought about the time Espeon and I once came here after returning home from the time crisis that had happened, months after we first met and became friends. We watched a movie together after finishing up a mission here in the city. So to relax, we stayed in the city for a while, getting some lunch, watch a movie, hitting the arcades later in the day, just those kinds of things. "I don't know what the movie was or what it was about, but I do remember Espeon saying she hated the acting and the animation, laughing at how bad it was. She then treated me to a day at the arcades after; it was fun from what I remember from it. No matter how much coins I had, she would always refill them so I could play on the arcades more wanting me to have fun." O looked over at Aqua to see her confused, probably at what an arcade was, so I quickly explained. "Oh, sorry. An arcade is where there are a lot of video games you can play when putting money in them. You can also play other games in arcades to earn prizes if you win a lot of tokens."

"Oh, I think I get it now. Espeon sounds like she's a good friend treating you to all of that." She nodded. "I would like to see what an arcade is and what you can exchange these tokens for, hopefully ice cream. Sound good?"

"Sure. Once we get back home and after everything has settled down, we'll go to one."

"I'm sorry Zack," she lightly chuckled as she hopped closer to me as we walked through the tall grass. "I keep asking you 'to do this' 'can we do that' let's go here' but right now you want to be with your friends and family first, to recover all of your memories and rest after all the travelling we have done. I keep forgetting that."

"Hey, I'd be happy to do all of that with you once all my memory is back and I am rested. But this time we'll travel with more of us. Maybe there are some humans in Nuvema Town who might be able to travel with us so we don't have to worry about any trainers out there trying to catch us. It'll be a nice and relaxing walk this time."

"What about Purrloin and her gang who are still after us?" I had almost forgotten about that. "Once we arrive in Nuvema Town, you reunited with your friends and family, resting after all the travel, trying to get your memory back, how long is it going to be until they stop looking for us?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure they won't be after us forever." I tried to stay positive about it all, but I was concerned about it. I mean what if we did go back home and Purrloin and her gang followed us? Everyone would be at risk. How long would they be willing to chase us for? Weeks? Months? Just how long exactly will it take for everything to be normal again? I didn't want to stay in hiding; neither did I want the same for Aqua.

We stopped at the end to see on our right was another short street, one just at the end was green gate, the exit of the city and one which would lead us out into Route 15. But this street had I'd say about twenty or so people and Pokemon walking to and from out of the city gate. On the side of the street were tall bushes once reached would help hide us from the trainers and pass through them safely without being seen hopefully. All we had to do was leave this side of the street and run as fast as we could towards that area we would be safe in without any of the humans or Pokemon seeing us. Last we wanted was everyone to be after us so close to the city exit, so we had to wait for our chance, and let me tell you, the wait was a long one. Too long for me to count of just me and Aqua carefully peeking out of the grass to watch for an opening, carefully watching both humans and Pokemon walking through the street, standing and talking with others yet most if not all looking in the way we wanted to. All we had to do was cross the street and we would easily get out of this city within a minute. But while I was sitting there waiting for a chance to cross, instead of focusing on which way the humans and Pokemon were facing, if we had a chance to cross, my head turned to the billboards I saw on top of the short buildings advertising new movies.

" '_Snorlax's Big Dream Adventure 4' 'Last Stand for Trainer Takeshi – The Road to Victory'"_ I said in my head reading the titles of all of the new movies coming out soon. _" 'Meowth and Friends Surfin' Adventure!' 'Super Lati-'" _My eyes widened at the name of that. I hadn't really looked at the posters of the movies, just the titles and moved on to the next. I looked at poster to see a Latias wearing a red cape and red mask covering her eyes as she was flying above an unknown city. "Super Latias 7?" I whispered as I read the title of the movie.

"Zack, what is it?"

I didn't say anything at first; I only stared at the poster, mostly at the Latias unsure why. Was it because I knew this Latias from the all of the times watching that animation as a kid with Latias growing up? All of the movies she had taken me to see, watching them at home hundreds of times? The video games she'd play at home, the Super Latias themed parties? Or was it my head telling me, trying to help me remember about Latias? "That movie poster…" I pointed to the poster with my paw. "I remember it. I remember seeing it before. But I don't know why. I just know that I have seen it before." I was confused, unsure what that poster was supposed to mean to me, why I felt something whenever I looked at it.

" 'Super Latias 7'" Aqua read from the poster, and looked back at me. "What do you remember about it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know anything. But every time I look at it, I feel as though I know it somehow, and I don't know why."

Aqua and I sat down still hidden within the tall grass and instead of waiting and watching for an opportunity to pass to the other side, waiting for when the humans and Pokemon looked another way, Aqua and I instead stayed in the city for a few more hours looking up at the movie poster trying to remember more about it. I'd like to say those extra hours spent within the city hidden in the tall grass looking up at a movie poster kind of helped me remember my past a little, but not enough for me to remember it all. The only few things I did remember about Super Latias was the opening theme; an orchestra playing that sounded happy and heroic with children at the end of the short opening shouted 'Super Latias' and then the show would begin. Another was sitting in front of a Super Latias birthday cake with a set of ten candles on top waiting for them to be blown out. And lastly was me holding a Super Latias plush toy and wrapping it inside a gift wrapper for someone.

Nothing ever new came from staring up at the billboard in those final hours within the city, but I did talk to Aqua about it. "I have seen something like this before. The Latias poster, I have seen a toy version when I was growing up in the alley with my parents." Aqua said as we continued to look up at the billboard. "It was a small plastic toy of Super Latias, some cheap cloth for cape but broken without any wings and right paw missing. I remembered it well because right after those monsters attack the city when I was young, several months after I found this toy of Super Latias, and I played with it thinking how cool it was that a real Latias came and saved me just like Super Latias does to the ones in the comics read a few times while reading it from the trash."

"Oh yeah, you did tell me about that. How a human with a Dewott and Latias saved you from those monsters all those years back."

"That's the one." Aqua smiled and nodded her head. "The Dewott travelling with the Dewott was cool, made me want to become one when I grew up. The Latias, well I know I can't evolve into one but I wanted to be cool like her. And as for the human, growing up in the city in that alley, all I have ever heard from the other Pokemon there was that they didn't trust humans, they didn't care about us, they were all bad. But that human who saved me made me realize that not all humans are bad. After growing up in that alley for years, ignored by everyone, I was starting to believe what they were saying, but it all changed that day. I'd like to meet that Latias again. They're very rare, so the chances of running into that is slim. Did you know any Latias'?"

Latias since the two of us have been friends since we were young and later became a couple. A Shiny Latias who is our enemy so that makes two. But since I didn't know about any of them I just shook my head. "I don't know any. I'd like to meet a Latias too. What are they like?"

"Red, white, amber eyes… um, a blue triangle thingy on their chest…." Aqua paused briefly before continuing. "Two wings, paws with claws, and they levitate really fast. They're almost the size of a human. Not an adult human but uh, a teen I think."

"Wow. It must've been something to see if they're so rare."

"Yeah."

We stayed there for another hour before attempting to escape the city. We did manage to escape the city in the end, thankfully a quick wait instead of an agonizing long wait for the humans and Pokemon to look elsewhere. They cleared the street and were down to five or fewer before we made our move when by luck a woman had dropped something heavy and needed help. We continued our journey from there, a journey we were so close on reaching the end. We just had to go through Route 15, a long route but when the time came we would go south from that route as far as we could and reach Nacrene City in a few days. We would then head east towards Route 3, then we would arrive in Striaton City, then head directly south and we would finally be home within a week.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

The Pidove couple were originally teamed up with Zack and Aqua during their full stay within the city and may have even travelled with them for a while and explore their origins.


	35. Chapter 35 Reunion

Chapter 35 - Reunion

* * *

****

**Route 15**

This route was one of the longer ones we had been on, but not one we would fully take. Nearing the end of the route we would find a set of stairs leading down to a large forest we intended to take. Following the shoreline down and we would eventually arrive in Nacrene City. Taking the upper section would be the faster way to do so and the safest way to travel through the route. Taking the south section would be a lot more dangerous, more trainers and wild Pokemon wandering within the lower section of the route. We didn't want to encounter any of that.

The route was nice. It was quiet and we saw hardly any trainers on this route, so the walk we had down this route wasn't just to get to where we needed, but also enjoy the nice scenery of the mountains nearby to our right, just northwest of the route and tall trees along our path, it was peaceful for once.

"So Nacrene City, What do you remember about it?" Aqua asked before closing the map book she was reading in. "And no, you can't peek inside the map book. So don't ask."

"Heh, I wasn't going to ask because I do know about that city." I shrugged, also amazed that I knew so much about Nacrene City. I wasn't sure when my memory of that city and my times spent there came back to me. But I was happy to remember something about my past. ""

"Hmm… I don't know if you really do know about Nacrene City. Maybe you looked in the map book yesterday to prepare yourself if I ever asked you about it."

"Okay, first about the city is that it uses restored warehouses as buildings. There is the Nacrene Museum I remember going in once for only a little while due to some fire that happened because a trainer snuck his Tepig inside. Doing that is against the rules. Next there is a café called…" I knew about the city well, I had been there hundreds of times in the past from what I remembered. I remembered going into that café, had a meeting in there once. "Warehouse Café…"

"Café Warehouse." Aqua corrected me after a quick look inside the map book. "Close enough, so I'll give you that. Also about the museum were Pokemon are not allowed inside, very good. Even I forgot about that detail. Anymore you remember about that city?"

"There's a Gym which specializes in normal-type Pokemon. The gym leader is… Lenora. I never met her, only seen her on a few occasions while walking through the city… hmm, that's pretty much it. The layout I remember so we should be fine when we arrive. Knowing the layout should help us get through without trouble. So, how was that? Was it good enough?"

"It was good." She chuckled, opening the map book again and turning to Nacrene City. Looking up from her book at me to make sure I wasn't trying to catch a glimpse of the city. "But we'll see once we arrive at the city. So until then no looking inside this book. I want to test you on this."

Suddenly, the two of us stopped in our tracks at the sound of something in the bushes twenty meters in front of us. We heard someone behind the bushes yelping in pain as they tried to climb out of the bush. So Aqua and I got into position; her behind me to watch our backs, and me up front readying with my Scald not wanting to be ambushed again. Then what emerged from behind the bushes surprised me and yet couldn't believe what I saw. It was a female Leafeon carrying a basket using her mouth. But this Leafeon wasn't just any other Pokemon out there; it was the one who had lived with us in Purrloin's hideout who escaped at the same time as we did. Leafeon noticed us and starred at us for some time before she gasped and dropped her basket to the dirt ground and walked up to us. "N-no way… is that- is that you Zack?" She smiled. Aqua turned around and she gasped, walking up to Leafeon.

"Leafeon!"

Leafeon looked up at the Dewott in front of her. Aqua was an Oshawott during the time they knew each other during our stay within Purrloin's hideout. It took Leafeon a little moment longer for her to realize that the same Oshawott she knew and befriended during her time in the hideout was Aqua standing in front of her evolved into a Dewott. "N-no way! Aqua, you evolved. Oh my gosh! Just look at you!" Leafeon jumped up at Aqua and the two hugged.

"It's so good to see you again, Leafeon! I missed you!"

"You look great by the way! When did you evolve?" She asked, checking her new evolved form out, and noticed her new accessory. "And what is this?"

"I evolved not too long before we reached Black City. And this is an Everstone necklace. Zack gave it to me." She told her as Leafeon looked at me. I just looked away, shy about the whole thing.

"Wow. Hey, do you two want to head to our clan?" Leafeon asked as Aqua let her go, returning back to pick up her basket. "It isn't too far from here. It's only a few minutes away from here. We can chat there and catch up on so much." Aqua looked over her shoulder at me. It had been a long time since we last saw Leafeon, Jolty and their son Eevee, and who knows if we would ever see them again, so why not?

* * *

****

**Eon Clan**

After several minutes of walking off the main path of Route 15 and up north, we arrived at a clearing with a huge circular lake with a waterfall north and a small river east. Near the clearing at the edge of the lake was a large white building almost falling apart. What it was remained a mystery to us then, so we walked with Leafeon to the center of the clearing, looking at the Pokemon that were a part of the clan Leafeon was in; Eeveelutions. So many of them. Vaporeon, Flareon, Sylveon, Glaceon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon's, and most were the Eevee's gathered by several Pokemon talking to them about the paths they can take, what evolution path they desire the most. But no sight of Jolty or little Eevee as of yet.

"Like it?" Leafeon asked us, taking us further inside so that we were in the center of the area. "From the moment we first came here we said to ourselves 'This is the one.' And so this has become our home. No old smells, no Purrloin, and certainly no more supply runs like the ones we did in Castelia City. The food we get here is so close and healthier too. We all get fresh air, fresh grass to walk on, sleep on, oh it's really good."

"What's that building?" Aqua pointed out the building as we sat down together. Leafeon turned her head.

"That's an old building we are temporarily using for now before moving on. We are heading up north to join with another clan. One said to be safe. Supposed to be better suited for all of our types where we are heading; hot in one place, cold in another, endless fields of grass and flowers, water to swim in. We want to leave soon before winter comes. But first we still have to wait for the others to return after they have gathered information about the road ahead. The best way to travel without too much confrontation." She sighed. "And we're doing all we can to do our part to help them for taking us in. After we left Castelia City we were searching all over this region for anywhere we might call home; from abandoned homes left by humans, small clans living within forests, to Pokemon living in caves. But one place we never ever went to was another city not wanting to be reminded of Purrloin or her gang. A few weeks later we found this clan. They took us in but only if we helped them earn their trust. It took some time but all three of us managed not too long ago to finally do that by showing them we want to help, not just helping them gather food for the clan, not just protecting them from wild Pokemon who are seen as a threat to us, but we want to help them get up north to join the other clan where all of us can be safe."

"Leafeon, explain yourself." A female Vaporeon approached us from behind with a male Flareon and a male Jolteon. "You know better not to bring in outsiders without my permission first."

"Um, I'm sorry Vaporeon, but these two; Zack and Aqua, they are my friends from my old clan. I haven't seen them in months and I was happy to see them again after so long." Leafeon stood up and walked over to Vaporeon, lowering her head as she looked up at her sadly. "I'm really sorry."

The Vaporeon looked over at us, checking Aqua first and then me before turning back at Leafeon and sighed. "Leafeon, you know the rules of our clan; don't bring anyone in without the leader's permission. But I will allow them to stay within the area for a short while. So catch up, battle, whatever, they must be out of this area before I and the other leaders return by sunset."

"T-thank you Vaporeon. I promise this will never happen again. I will remember the rules from now on." Leafeon bowed and smiled, but stopped when she noticed the leaders were still standing there, giving me a questionable look before asking me.

"You there, the Dewott; you seem awfully familiar. Have we met?"

"I don't know. Not too long ago I washed up on a beach near Castelia City. I woke up with hardly any memory as to who I was except for my name, where I came from, why I was covered in these scars you see on my body, or who I know out here." The Vaporeon looked down at my lower body first before moving her eyes up at my stomach, my chest and then my eye.

"You're name is Zack then, I think I have seen you before, once last year in Driftveil City. Did you have an Espeon companion?" She asked. If I had not had those dreams were Espeon was actually speaking with me from Nuvema Town, memories of ever knowing an Espeon I would probably say no. But this was a surprise. To actually find someone else who knew who I was or at least seen me before.

"I do know an Espeon. I know she and I have travelled together, and we are good friends. That's what I remember about her, but not much else or anything involving ever seeing you before. Um, I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She shook her head. "I saw you in Driftveil City with the Espeon just walking by. Nothing eventful happened between us, I just saw a white Dewott with red and black eyes last year in that city. An unusual sight since Dewott's in this region are blue, or shiny like your friend here, Aqua was it?" She said looking over at Aqua as she nodded.

"Oh, I thought you knew more about me." I was a little disappointed that I finally found someone who knew me in a way, but she just saw me walking with Espeon, thinking she would tell me more about who I was. "Did you happen to see me with someone else? Maybe see me with humans, two of them?"

"I'm sorry, but I only saw you and the Espeon together." She shook her head. "I didn't see anyone else with you. I was on the street with my trainer, I noticed a white Dewott with red and black eyes, travelling with an Espeon and that was it." Vaporeon sat down and looked at my scars again. "I suppose you and your friend can stay a little longer than by sunset. You both look tired."

"Yes!" Leafeon almost jumped up, happy that we would stay a while longer, but quickly settled down while in front of the three leaders. "I mean, uh splendid. Zack, Aqua, come sit by me and tell us all you have been through; the journey, the sights, everything you have got up to. Still heading to Nuvema Town?"

"That's right." Nodded as she sat beside her. "But we had to take the long way around since there were a lot of soldier's outside the eastern gate of the city. SO instead of going back to Castelia City, on Route 15 at the end of it almost we are heading south through the forest to get close to Nacrene City and head the rest of the way home from there."

"Must've been a long journey for the two of you. Travelling all over the region to get here, there must be so much you saw? Oh please, do tell."

And that's just what Aqua did. She told her about the places we have been and the things we saw in different cities and landmarks. But most importantly she told Leafeon all about one of the world's best creations; Ice cream, telling her about how good it tastes, the many flavors one can have, how cold it is, that was the one that lasted longer than what we have been through. Leafeon however didn't quite understand what ice cream. Food she got, but couldn't imagine the taste or coldness of ice cream since she had never eaten anything freezing cold before.

This talk did last for some time, almost about to talk about the clan and how they got together, the journey they are taking. It was good for us to be with Pokemon we knew to catch up on lost time. The only thing missing was Jolty and little Eevee. Jolty was out looking for food to bring back with the other Umbreon's a little further away from the area almost done with his chores, while Eevee was with the other Eevee's playing and being with his friends.

Over the nearest hill stood Jolty as he appeared over the hill near where he left his full basket of berries from his task on collecting food for the clan. The Umbreon walked over to us and sighed. "I'm back. That was really a rough task today. I am sore all over…" Jolty slowly looked up and noticed me and Aqua sitting next to her. Expecting him to be happy at us, he instead was angry, and furiously asked Leafeon. "W-what are they doing here?!"

"Relax, Jolty. It's just Zack and Aqua. C'mon, you know who they are."

"Did you bring them here?" Jolty growled at Leafeon. "Do you have any idea what you could've done, or might have done if they were followed by HER? We're still being chased by them."

Leafeon stood up and walked to Jolty, trying her best to calm the situation down. She wanted to talk to us more about the clan with us, her friends she hadn't seen in a while. "Jolty, it's okay. Zack and Aqua haven't been followed I made sure of it before I brought them back here, and you know I always make sure to double check my surroundings whenever I leave to gather food and come back."

"Purrloin is still after us. Didn't you hear me? Purrloin; the same psychotic Pokemon who likes to torture her victims young and old from the simplest of things from spilling a small drop of paint on her fur, and she'll beat you up for it no matter how much you apologize for it. The same Pokemon who if you argued with her on anything she said would cut off your tail with a pair of scissors. That is the kind of Pokemon I don't want near us ever again. If you remember the stories about what she does to her enemies or Pokemon who simply annoy her once, the things we have seen that Purrloin has done to her victims displaying her work to us, victims she knows how to keep alive for a very long time. What if that crazy psychopath got a hold of you, me, Eevee? That's what'll happen if you bring them in."

"Jolty…" She said calmly. "It's okay. Purrloin or her gang members weren't there. Wild Pokemon and trainers weren't near or around Zack and Aqua, We're safe. Do you think I would bring them back here if I didn't know that?"

"You're going to get us all killed, you stupid bitch!" The entire lake seemed to have gone silent after just Jolty shot that at her so suddenly. Jolty growled and his eyes narrowed at Leafeon, ignoring how Leafeon's eyes were watering.

"J-Jolty y-you…" it was all she could say before she ran off towards the abandoned building leaving us, the three leaders and Jolty.

"Leafeon! Don't go into that building!" Vaporeon raised her voice, but Leafeon was already too far away. She either ignored her warning or couldn't hear it for how fast she had already ran, and she ran inside without looking back.

"Jolty, that wasn't a nice thing to say to Leafeon. Here at this clan we do not talk like that to anyone here, you know the rules about that. I trust her and know she would never do anything to endanger the lives of our entire clan," Vaporeon said walking over to him with a fierce glare that sent Jolty shivering. "She is perhaps one of the best I have in my side of the clan who helps look for food without attracting any unwanted attention."

"I… I'm sorry Vapor-"

"Don't apologize to me, Jolty!" Vaporeon suddenly interrupted him as she took a step forward closer towards him. "You didn't do anything to me, so why are you apologizing to me? Apologize to her. She is the one you just insulted."

Jolty gritted his teeth and walked away in the opposite direction to the abandoned building before muttering. "It's not my fault damn it!"

Vaporeon at first tried to run after him but in the end left him alone. "He's real pain that one." She said to us, looking up at the building where Leafeon had ran into. "This isn't their first time they have had a fight. But the common thing they fight about is going out there and collecting food or patrolling the area for intruders who might harm us or try to capture us. He's protective of her, trying to keep her safe and also the little one too. But he has a terrible temper problem he needs to sort."

"Has he been a problem with the clan?" Aqua asked, Vaporeon turning her head to look at us.

"Sometimes arguing with others who ask Leafeon to go out to collect food, or just to hang out with a few other Pokemon here to relax. Jolty steps in and demands Leafeon for her to stay here. Nothing too serious, just shouting. It is something I am concerned of."

"Can we go inside that building to see Leafeon?" I asked the Vaporeon, wanting to check up on Leafeon after that shouting from Jolty and the way she ran off like that.

"Of course." She nodded, but stopped when she noticed how dark the sky had gotten this quickly. Not because of the sun setting, but because of an approaching storm. "A storm? Oh no this can't be good. Okay, I will allow it, but be careful, that building is falling apart and with the storm coming I don't think that building will last much longer. I have asked many others from our clan to stay away from it. Get in and out as fast as you can. That building isn't safe."

Aqua and I nodded and quickly ran towards the building as fast as we could, hoping to find Leafeon in time before the storm began. But before we reached inside of the building, together we felt drops of rain already falling from the sky.

* * *

****

**Abandoned Building**

Once inside, Aqua called out to Leafeon, but all she got was an echo of her voice throughout the entrance of the building. We had to be quick, if Vaporeon was right about this building being unstable and with the storm coming we had to get out of there before this place comes crashing down into the lake below. The building was slightly almost completely over the edge of the lake with rotten wooden beams still holding it up. A place to buy bait and equipment for fishing one might say when looking at this building from the outside; wooden, nets still hanging on the rails outside, and old lures by the hundreds littered on the outside. Inside however told a different story.

The entrance was small but completely white with a single corridor leading to other sections of the building, tiled walls, marbled floor, and desks with old files and old wet documents on top of them and scattered on the floor. But one of the things we first looked at when entering the building was an old painted sign just barely readable where the reception desk once was 'Te..m Anni…tion' Team Annihilation was what it once said. This building was once an old hideout for Team Annihilation soldiers. Many buildings set up by Annihilation were shut down, closed off by The Savior's wanting to find out what sort of things they did here and there. Some weren't storing much, others had a few bits and pieces of information about what Annihilation were doing in certain locations.

We knew about Team Annihilation, but neither of us had time to talk about it and we ran as fast down the corridor, searching each room we approached and called out to Leafeon desperate to find her and get her out faster than we entered. This building was larger than it seemed. From the outside it looked kind of small with just under ten small rooms or so, but on the inside were about thirty large rooms most with two bunk beds inside, a dining room for the people who once stayed here, a kitchen, and an empty armory. But after some time of running and searching all the rooms we had come across, now at the back of the building in one of the dorm rooms we eventually found Leafeon on a bunk bed crying into a pillow.

"Leafeon, it's us." Aqua said as she walked up to the bunk bed Leafeon was on, placing her paw on her shoulder. Leafeon brought her head up to look at us, wiping her eyes with her paw. "Leafeon, there is a storm coming. We need to get out of here before-"

"Why did he say that to me?" She cried. "Being here, just trying to fit in with everyone else is difficult for me. I only have little friends here. Whenever I try to do as much as I can for this clan for bringing us in, Jolty shows up and shouts at me saying I shouldn't do it, fearing Purrloin will find us. But I am careful whenever I do go out. Was I wrong for bringing you two back here? Both of you are my good friends. I just wanted to talk to you again. Our son would've loved to have seen you, and I was certain Jolty would be delighted to see you two again after all this time. He didn't have to say that I was a bitch…"

All of us turned toward the door upon hearing fast footsteps approaching, and then we saw Jolty run inside the room breathless as he tried to get us all out. "L-Leafeon… you have to get out. All of you… all of you do, now!"

Leafeon flicked her tail and glared at him. "I'm not talking to you, Jolty. In fact I don't want to look at you right now. So do me a favor and leave me alone. I don't want to be near you right now!"

Jolty growled and walked closer to her. "Leafeon, listen to me, damn it! Right now there is a storm outside, and this building is about to come crashing down into the lake. Let's forget about this for now and get out while we still have-"

Suddenly the building began to shake at first a little and then rattled like we stuck in the middle of an earthquake. Before we knew it, the beams holding the building in place collapsed and set the building down into the lake below. Flipping furniture over, rooms and corridors quickly flooded with water as the building had become almost completely submerged underwater.

I stood up beside Aqua after the shaking had stopped, happy that it did and the four of us could escape this building before the place would fill with water. But Leafeon and Jolty hadn't got up yet. They were both conscious, but the bunk bed broke in half and had fallen on the both of them, crushing Jolty's hind legs, and Leafeon's torso. "Oh no!" Aqua quickly walked over to the two of them.

Blood was in the water, mostly coming from Leafeon. Because of the water and how dark it was in the room made it difficult to determine how bad the injury was. "C'mon, we gotta get this thing off of them." I said, as Aqua, Jolty and I tried to push the bed off to free them both. But it was way too heavy for us to lift it up, or even budge it. We didn't give up though; we tried all we could to free them from the bed pinning them down; Razor Shell to saw into the wood of the bed to cut them loose, a combination of moves to destroy the bed so we could free them. But no matter what we did, that old bed wouldn't budge, it wouldn't break, it was staying there no matter what.

"I… it hurts… ah! S-stop…" She gasped, coughing up a little bit of blood from her mouth as she tried to keep her head up above the water as it rose up slowly.

"It's too heavy, I can't lift it!" Aqua fell back after losing her grip on her Scalchop as she tried to use it to pry them loose, but to no avail. Attempting to try again, Jolty stopped us and looked over at Leafeon, now noticing how every time we tried to lift the bed up, Leafeon was bleeding a lot more. The bed after it was cut in half when it fell a sharp piece of wood or a bit of metal must've stabbed her somewhere.

"Leafeon she… " Jolty shook his head and began sobbing. Using his paw, he kept Leafeon's head up above water. "Get going! You have to get out of here. Leave us!"

"What? We're not going to leave you like this?" I argued with him, refusing to just up and leave Leafeon and Jolty here to die. There had to be a way to free them and come out of this alive and back on the surface. "C'mon. Let's try lifting the bed up again from a different angle. The faster we do it the faster we can stop the-"

"Zack!" He said. "I can't feel my legs. Look at all of this blood. This blood isn't from me; it's from her… get out of here while you still can. Get back home to Nuvema Town." The water in the room had turned red from the amount of the blood from Leafeon's injury.

"But we can…" I didn't want to leave them. It wouldn't feel right. But even if we did manage to get them out from under that bed pinning them to the ground, with a broken leg, a stab wound in her body and the amount of blood she already lost, how would we get them both out of the building?

"The water's rising. Go…" He told us, trying to keep his head above water while doing the same for Leafeon. "It was nice seeing you two again. I'm sorry I had to be a jerk back there. I only wish I hadn't yelled at her and the four of us would catch up on old times. Get going, please. Save yourselves."

We looked at each other. Aqua not wanting to leave them, and neither did I. They were asking us to leave them to die, and we didn't want to do that. We couldn't. But deep down, all four of us knew was that there was no way for any of us to getting that bed off. They were trapped there with the water rising slowly. "We're sorry… we really are sorry. Goodbye." Was all I said before Aqua sobbed and turned around and left the room. I stood there for a moment, before reluctantly turning my back at them and heading out of the room leaving Leafeon and Jolty to their doom.

After we left, Jolty immediately turned to his mate. "Leafeon… can you hear me? Are you still with me?" He asked her. She nodded very weakly. "I'm so sorry for calling you… that. You know I didn't mean it. I was stupid, I was a fool…. I was scared." Leafeon opened her eyes and looked at Jolty, her face almost submerged underwater. "I was scared I would lose you and Eevee. Before I met you, I was scared on being alone. I lived my life alone before I met you, and I didn't want to lose that."

Jolty saw Leafeon as she placed a paw on his cheek and smiled. "I forgive you… Jolty. I only wish we could see our son grow up… he's such a good boy…" she sniffed.

Jolty nodded and smiled with her. "He is… I know he's going to be alright without us. It'll be hard for him at first, but he'll be alright. He's strong, our little Eevee."

"I love you Jolty…" She said rather weakly. It was the last ever words he ever heard from Leafeon. Taking some time for him to say the words, he waited for a moment before telling her…

"I love you too Leafeon." And it was the last ever words from Jolty before the water had risen above their heads. It was only a matter of time before it was over. Jolty looked at his mate underwater to see her on the ground, not moving. He felt for a pulse, but she was already dead. Jolty never turned away from his mate. He kept his eyes on her. He moved closer to her body so the two were lying together. He wasn't sure if Leafeon was alive to hear him say he loved her, but he felt as though his words reached her before death did.

Her face inches from his as he nuzzled her, finally closing his eyes and waiting for his moment to come.

* * *

****

**Submerged Corridors**

Water had flooded the building that we had to use furniture to stand on, slowly rising almost reaching the ceiling. There was only one way out of this building, something Aqua wasn't good at yet, something she didn't know how; It was how to swim. Aqua and I stood on top of the largest shelf we could find in the corridor as the water had filled the room. The countdown was ticking for us so we had to hurry or else we would end up drowned in here.

Aqua clutched my arm as she felt the rising water reaching up to her knees. "Aqua, we got to get out of here." I told her trying to regain my balance on top of the shelf as the water made the shelf slippery for my feet to stand on. "We have to swim out of here."

"I can't swim!" She shook her head. "I can't. W-what am I going to do? I'll drown here."

I turned to her and placed both of my paws on her shoulder looking her in the eyes. "Aqua, we are not going to drown. I am not leaving you here. I think I know a way we can both get out." I turned my back to her. "I want you to wrap your arms around my neck and hold on to me."

"W-what?"

"You just wrap your arms around my neck and I'll do the swimming for the both of us." I turned back around and touched her arm with my paw to help calm her down after noticing her shaking. "It's out only way out of this, we have to do it. It'll be okay. If you panic or need to breathe, I'll quickly find a place for us to get some air." I used my own paw and patted my chest, right where Aqua's paws would be once she grabs onto me underwater. "Just pat my chest to give me the signal and I'll swim as fast as I can to the nearest air pocket. If you accidentally let go of me, do not panic, I'll go back for you." I turned around, and I felt Aqua walk up behind me and wrap her arms around my neck, placing her paws close to my chest.

"I trust you… I trust you Zack." I looked back at her and nodded before she closed her eyes. It was time for a swim. One I was nervous of doing since the last time I ever went swimming was two years ago when I was still a human. I just hoped that I hadn't gone rusty from my lack of swimming. Slowly I jumped off the top of the shelf to help ease Aqua with the cold sensation of the cold water before starting this off. I told her to take a deep breath before I dived underwater and began to swim before the rising water filled to the ceiling.

I dove deeper into the water and swam down the corridor. After that shaking which brought down the building, not only did it fill the inside with water but it destroyed some corridors rendering some areas of the building unable to pass through for us. So we had to go through the rooms since most of them had conjoined rooms, an alternative way for us to get through and hopefully back outside again. The room we swam into was a game room were residents played video games, pool, and air hockey. To relax and take it easy. This room lead towards a small dining room where I remember running into earlier before this building fell into the lake joined up with the main corridor. Looking up near the small window too small for us to get through was an air duct.

I had to find a way to get out and at the same time make sure I wasn't too far away from air pockets thankfully the building still had. The air ducts had some breathing room for us, breaking the vent open with my scalchop and poking both of our heads through we managed to catch some much needed oxygen, and some talk to help keep our spirits up.

"How are you doing?" I asked her, still able to see her in the slight darkness.

"T-that was terrifying… unable to see, can't breathe *coughs* caught some water in my mouth a minute ago… I almost patted your chest right then and there thinking I would swallow more and… The quicker we are out of here the better."

"You're doing great. We're not out of the woods yet, but we will make It." after a short while, ready to get back going I asked. "We're going to keep going. You ready?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "Phew… waters getting colder. I really hope we don't freeze in here." I agreed with her, touching her paw with mine to set her at ease before moving on.

We took a deep breath and continued swimming underwater through the double doors. Once the door brushed pass Aqua's back while I tried to push it open as far as I could she wrapped her arms around my neck tighter. I looked up and down the corridor scanning the area as fast as I could. To the left of me were two doors both leading to the same room near the reception and then out of the building and up to the surface finally free of this. But once I approached both doors simultaneously I found that both doors were blocked by the furniture inside the room. I remembered seeing a lot of furniture in that room, metal shelves, stacks upon stacks of old desks and chairs all in one room, so I had to take another route out of this building, so I went right down the corridor and turned left at the end of it. It was at that moment Aqua patted my chest again, this time rather rapidly than the last time meaning she was either panicking or running out of breath. I swam down the corridor looking through the dorm rooms to my right hoping to see another air duct to get some air. Thankfully I found one in one of the rooms and quickly swam up to it.

"T-this water is so c-c-cold!" she shuddered, holding me tight as she tried to get warm against my body. "b-but I ain't giving up… n-no way! I g-gotta taste more ice c-cream flavors when I have only had so little!"

"You thinking of ice creams right now?"

"Uh-huh… ice creams are s-so g-good. I wish I h-had some with me…"

"But ice creams are cold. Something warm would be so much better than something cold, like ice cream." I said, not having any problem with the cold water at all. I still felt the cold, but in no way was it making me shiver as much as Aqua, not even close. Hm, maybe this Doom serum I was injected with must've done more than change my appearance. "I would have a nice hot slice of Pizza. Or maybe the entire thing."

"I don't k-know what Pizza is, b-but nothing i-is better than ice c-cream." She shook her head. "C'mon Zack… l-let's get a move on… we w-won't get ice cream if we are still in h-h-here!"

I sighed before we took a deep breath and began to dive underwater, making our way through the final sections of building almost near the exit. I swam as fast as I could out of the doorm room and towards the right until I was right at the corridor that would lead us to the reception and out of here. it was just a straight swim forward and through those double doors and we were out. But what concerned me was how much we actually sank in the lake. How deep where we and how far would we have to swim up to reach the surface? We would need to prepare for that, taking a deeper breath in another air pocket would help prepare us for the swim. So instead of swimming straight down, I swam over to the rooms already open finding another air pocket at the center of the ceiling this time other than an open air duct.

"Aqua, this is it. One last swim and we'll be out of here." I said to her while keeping her warm after turning around to face her, keeping us both above the surface with my legs. "But we are going to need to take a deep breath. It might be a long swim; it might be quick… so take your time to prepare yourself for this. I don't know if"

Aqua nodded and breathed in and out, readying herself for the last swim. She nodded her head and I turned for her to wrap her arms around me. We took one last deep breath together before diving underwater again and swam out of the room towards the entrance.

Arriving at the entrance, I found the room completely surrounded by old documents and floating chairs everywhere almost obscuring my view of the double doors which would be our escape out of there. I swam through them, getting my face covered in the old documents as I neared the exit. The doors would just need a simple push to open them, but unfortunately the doors were blocked off by one of the many beams once underneath the building now blocking the doors preventing our escape. I backed off away from the door and many documents covered Aqua's face briefly before floating away. Something which made her hold onto me tighter. I searched the room looking for a way out; an emergency door, a window big enough for the two of us to get through. And then I saw atop of the door was a large half-circle window already broken. That was our escape, and we took it.

We were out of that building finally and thankfully it wouldn't be a long swim up to reach the surface. It didn't even sink all that much. Smiling, I swam as fast as I could.

* * *

Upon reaching the surface of the lake, Aqua and I gasped for air, but hit with heavy rain as the storm raged on. Several Vaporeon's swam up to us after jumping in the water and quickly helped us out. "Are you alright?" I looked up from the water to the shallow part of the lake; it was the Vaporeon leader offering us her paw to get back on dry land. "The building fell while you were inside. I had to search for my best swimmers to get help. Team, get down there and search for Leafeon and Jolty" She began ordering her five Vaporeon's ready to swim down and help Leafeon and Jolty. But it was too late.

"Vaporeon, wait!" I stopped her, holding Aqua close to warm her up from the water. "Leafeon and Jolty were trapped underneath heavy furniture after the building fell into the lake. We tried to pick it up, destroy the heavy furniture but we couldn't find a way to get it off of them… The water was rising; rising until we… until we had to leave them. We couldn't save them…" Aqua rested her head on my chest as she began to cry. I hated how we left them like that, wanting to do so much more to help them. Maybe there was a way we could've helped free them, just one last attempt or two at trying to lift the bed up and they would be free, a way for them both to get back to the surface and on dry land safe and sound.

"W-what about Eevee?" Aqua asked as she lifted her head up at Vaporeon. I had almost forgotten about him. Hearing the news on what happened to his parents… poor Eevee. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Their child will continue to stay with us." Vaporeon said to us as her ears lowered; saddened by the news she would bring to Eevee about his parents. "I will take care of him and comfort him. I will raise him as my own. Leafeon was a good friend, she was… she really did help our clan out a lot. Her actions will not be ignored. And Jolty… well, despite Jolty's attitude at times… he wasn't a bad Umbreon. The two will not be forgotten amongst the clan." Vaporeon walked in front of us. "This Pokemon Leafeon mentioned called Purrloin is after Eevee. We will protect him; pretend Eevee has stayed with us since he was born. Leafeon also told us Purrloin was after the two of you. So we'll pretend we do not know who you are, we have never met you or seen you."

"Thank you. Please, take care of him." Aqua said, and Vaporeon smiled at her saying she will. Aqua turned to me and rested her head back onto my chest in silence. It would be some time before the two of us left the clan and back on Route 15 to continue with our journey.

We never saw Eevee that day or anymore after that day. But we never forgot the little guy or his parents Leafeon and Jolty. We would've liked to have seen him again, one last time before we left. But we couldn't risk staying there longer. So we both got up and left the lake, looking back one last time where the building once was.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This chapter was originally about Zack teaching Aqua how to swim and not having Jolty and Leafeon and their son appearing again in the story. Their fates after they escaped were left ambiguous.


	36. Chapter 36 The River

Chapter 36 - The River

* * *

**Route 15**

We walked together through Route 15 in somewhat silence for two hours, Aqua still upset about the loss of Jolty and Leafeon; they shouldn't have died like that. They found a clan to live with away from Purrloin and her gang, wanting their son to have a life free from being in a gang like hers. I never saw him again, but I hoped Eevee had a happy life. It'll be hard to move on, but with the clan he is with, they seemed like a real family, supporting him in his time of need.

I wanted to say something to cheer the mood up or break the silence, but no matter what I tried telling her I quickly went silent finding it hard to come up with something to say as all I could think of seemed to be awkward.

"Uh… Aqua? H-how are you feeling? I-" I placed my paw on her back and she immediately sobbed as she held me close to her, stopping in place.

"It was- it was so horrible! L-Leafeon and Jolty… they're dead! *Sniff*" She cried, and I held her close to me. "I can't help feeling that could've saved them if we kept on trying. They're must've been a way to do so. Wasn't there?"

I was thinking the same thing. If we tried again on lifting the bed off of them we could've saved them. Just one last time on trying and maybe we would still be back there with the others watching over them as they healed up from their wounds, happy both are alive and well. "The bed was just too heavy for us… it all happened so fast. Maybe there was nothing we could've done."

Aqua stepped back and looked at the ground. "Still… I felt as though we didn't do enough…" Aqua said as she walked slowly down the final section of Route 15 before heading south from there. I decided to give her some space for now; I would talk with her later that day about what happened before.

We would cut through the forest area and head to Nacrene City. A day or two walk from there and we would reach it. I walked beside her and walked together, helping her over through some shrubs and over the railing separating the two areas. I had never been through that area before, not knowing the layout or what Pokemon where there. It was new territory for the both of us, but one we had to venture into if we were to arrive back in Nuvema Town safely and quickly without Purrloin and her gang from following us.

We found a large river we walked alongside of to help guide our way towards the city. On the map it showed us that if we went down we would arrive close to Pinwheel Forest when we saw the Skyarrow Bridge in view. So we would stick close to the river, a walk I thought would be a peaceful one or one we could relax as we walked down this part of the region, listening to the river and taking in the smells. But we couldn't stop thinking about our friends drowning in that building, looking back at our alternatives on helping them. I looked over at Aqua, her eyes red from the crying. I decided to continue walking until we stopped to rest, figure I would talk to her then. But I wanted to at least try and cheer her up, or at least comfort her until then. I was about to reach for her paw, but the two of us turned at the river as five Pokemon jumped out of the river, two up front and three in the back, then twenty or so emerged from the forest area and surrounded us. Twenty five of them we counted, Oshawott's, Dewott's, and Samurott's surrounded us. Aqua attempted to stand behind me to watch my back while I watched hers, but one of the Samurott's warned us to not move at the top of his lungs, while the Pokemon all prepared to use their moves against us. Frozen up, Aqua did as the Samurott was told and instead held my right arm.

"There weren't any other Oshawott's, Dewott's, or Samurott's within Purrloin's gang, me and Aqua were the only ones. Could this just be a clan who live around here?" I thought as I kept Aqua close to me, not wanting any harm to come to her or have her touched by them whoever they were or who they followed. I looked for opportunities, ways we could get out of this. But the amount of Pokemon surrounding us was way too much for the both of us to handle on our own, so reluctantly I had to stand down. The Pokemon lead us a little ways down the river until we arrived at a larger clearing by the river; with a small looking cave on the left were most Samurott's reside watching over a group of Oshawott's playing, and Dewott's near the far back of the clearing training, stopping once we were brought to the center.

"Zack… I just had another vision." Aqua whispered to me, but the sight of seeing us two talk amongst ourselves seemed to have angered the Pokemon surrounding us, caused a few of them to ready their moves, so we backed off.

Aqua and I looked at each other before we stood back to back; preparing ourselves for whatever thing it was they brought us here for. Then out of the cave emerged a Samurott, a female one with scars on her face and upper body stopping at the entrance of the cave before she looked at the other Pokemon surrounding us before walking towards me and Aqua. The Samurott stopped, towering over us as she stared at us one by one.

"Interesting." The Samurott said as she noticed me, moving her head closer towards my face. "Never seen a Dewott like you before." Then she moved her head at Aqua and examined her. "Like the unusual Dewott, you have what humans wear. Who are you? Why have you entered my territory?"

"My name is Zack, this is Aqua. We're sorry but we didn't know we were entering anyone's territory. We're trying to head south from here to get back to our home." I told the Samurott who never looked away from me. Then the Samurott turned to Aqua.

"Is this true? Is your name really Aqua? Are you two really travelling back home together?" She asked her. "Are you two with a clan living nearby here?"

"That is my name. We are travelling home together." Aqua answered. "But we don't belong to a clan nearby."

"So you are telling the truth…" She sighed. "What a relief… Okay everyone, false alarm. I have seen into their eyes and have discovered they are telling the truth." She raised her voice to the Pokemon surrounding us and most of them separated and left while others stayed to get a look at the two of us. Confused, we looked at each other unsure what was going on, and then the Samurott smiled.

"If you don't mind, I would like to have a word with one of you. I want to ask you a few questions before I let you go." She asked. I was about to say I would go and speak with her, but Aqua stepped forward.

"I will go."

"A-Aqua?"

She turned to me and smiled. "It's okay. I had a vision at the river before we got caught. I was trying to figure it out, why I was there inside a cave talking to a Samurott, but now I realize. I need to do this. In the vision I was told something important towards the end of the conversation."

"Are you sure?" I said, unsure about that. Aqua nodded and held my paw giving me a reassuring smile.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I won't be long." She sighed. "As much as I would like to continue on with our Journey Zack, I want to know what I wanted to say to the Samurott. It may be important for us."

I was left alone out here while Aqua went inside the cave to talk with the female Samurott. I didn't take my eyes off the cave entrance unsure if this place was safe or not, so I stayed in a place where I could see it clearly and close. But standing in the center did attract the attention of a lot of Samurott's, Dewott's and Oshawott's making me feel somewhat uncomfortable, so I decided to walk away from the center of the and back to the river where it was less crowded.

Standing next to a river alongside a few other Oshawott's and Dewott's I heard most of them talk about Aqua. "Wow, she sure is a cute Dewott." A Dewott nudged another male Dewott who gave him a smile back agreeing with him.

"How often do you see a shiny Dewott these days? Let alone a shiny female one? To top it off, she wears an adorable cute pink ribbon on her head, an Everstone necklace, and her voice is like listening to music, it's so good."

"It's too bad we all have mates with children. Otherwise I'd ask." He sighed.

"Maybe I could?" An Oshawott suggested as he approached the two Dewott's, another overhearing the conversation. "I must be the only one in this clan who don't have a mate. I think me and her would really- uh, what's her name?"

"Doesn't the white Dewott know her name? He did walk in with her." One of the Dewott's said just as he noticed me standing behind them. All three turned facing towards me asking. "So what's her name?" one of them asked.

"Aqua." I said, not thinking about Purrloin and her gang searching throughout the region for us. Thinking that maybe we should give them different names first or something.

"Are you and Aqua a couple? You know, is she your mate?" I shook my head, expecting that to be it and continue talking about Aqua, saying how cute she is and talk about her ribbon and necklace some more. "So what are you supposed to be?" Then this all for some reason took a different turn. Instead of asking more about Aqua, they all started asking about me with other Oshawott's and Dewott's all gathering around us, starring at me.

"Are you from another region?" A female Oshawott asked me from the crowd. "You know, a regional variant I have heard so much about?"

"I don't know."I shrugged, wanting this to be done and over with and the Oshawott's and Dewott starring at me to leave me alone so I can go back on waiting for Aqua to come back in peace.

"What do you mean you don't know?" The male Oshawott who approached the two Dewott's asked quite aggressively.

"I lost all of my memory before Aqua and I met. So I don't know where it was I came from or why I am a different color than other Dewott's." I told them trying to keep the other details out of the conversation; where we came really, why we are on this journey. The less who knew the better.

"You lost your memory?" The female Oshawott asked. Some amongst the crowd started to whisper amongst themselves. I wasn't sure on what though, however I did manage to catch 'memory lose' and 'why are they here in our clan?' to another. To save time on them answering and hopefully getting them away from me, I quickly told them.

I nodded. "We're just passing by." Thinking they would just go at that and elave me alone, one thing I didn't count on was the way I was dressed. I mean wearing a messenger bag and an eye patch over my left eye, and to count it all off I had multiple scars all over my body.

"Why does he have human clothing and accessories?" One Dewott said in front of the crowd. "Did a human give him that? Why? What in it?"

"How did you get all of those scars?" A female Dewott asked next to her Dewott mate. "Were you in a battle with a lot of Pokemon? Have you been in human wars?" Looking down at my scars on both my arms, down at my chest, my stomach, and legs almost covering my entire body with how many I had. Every time I looked at them, I felt uneasy about them as if somehow they reminded me of failure, I was ashamed of them, I don't know. But unknowingly, each and every one of them were scars all caused by Shiny Latias before I ended up washed up on the beach trying to save Latias from her.

"I don't know how I got them or anything about my past. Um… I'm going to go. S-sorry…" I felt kind of awkward to say that, and so I started walking away from the crowd to somewhere less populated and easy for Aqua to find me once she was done inside the cave with Samurott. I heard the Pokemon talking immediately after I left; I didn't listen though and focused on finding somewhere I could be at peace, sighing to myself hoping the Samurott would quickly finish with Aqua.

* * *

**Samurott's Cave – Aqua's POV**

The interior was so unlike the outside. I thought it would be a small cave big enough for two or maybe three Samurott's to live inside, a small pocket and that was it. The inside was bigger than I thought, with a circular entrance, several tunnels leading to the inner sections of the cave where several Samurott's, Dewott's, and Oshawott's lived, and some leading to other bigger caverns for training and getting a supply of water from the streams flowing within the caverns. But we never ventured too deep within the cave, so instead Samurott and I stopped at the entrance sitting beside a rock wall.

"So, Aqua," She started, a smile on her face and I smiled back, inside finding myself getting a little nervous not knowing it was she brought me in here for. "You and Zack are travelling together, correct?"

"That's right." I nodded.

"Where is it you two are heading if I may ask?"

"_Hmm… I'm not sure if I should tell them about where it is we are heading_." I thought to myself quickly while under the watchful eye of the Samurott, her smile stayed alive as the silence continued on, awaiting my reply. _"Purrloin could show up here and ask them if they saw us where it is we are heading if they did tell them."_ And so I went with the best answer I could think of without revealing where it was we were going. "Castelia City. Or well a little north of Castelia beyond the Desert Resort. I have family up there and we have travelled all the way from Opelucid to get here. We'd have walked the quicker way, but trainers got in the way so we had to take this route instead."

"I'm sorry for doing this, but recently we have had troublemakers from other clans living nearby; stealing our food, starting fights with some of our younger clan members." She sighed, glancing back over at the exit of the cave to see some of the younger Oshawott's play together and laughing. "We saw you nearby and our warriors probably thought you were with them. They brought you back here and they brought you to me. And I have made my decision from your eyes then and there." She said after pointing her eyes with a broad smile. "You two are not with those other clan or our enemy. How can I tell? I don't know how but I do have these feelings I get, a way of knowing whenever someone is lying to me or not." She chuckled and shook her body after a droplet of water fell from a rock spike sticking out from the wall. I felt my heart skip a beat when she said that, expecting at any moment for her to say 'and I knew you weren't telling me the truth. And for that we must imprison you here until Purrloin arrives! Muwahahaha!' I don't know about that last part, but I was scared about something like that happening. "You and Zack seem like a nice couple. You are together are you not?"

"Oh no, we're not together." I shook my head, feeling my face burn up a little. "We're just friends travelling through the region together."

"Ah, I see." She smiled. Then cocked her head as she noticed the necklace I was wearing. "Curious, I have never seen a stone like that before. May I ask what it is?" I looked down at my necklace and held it up.

"This is an Everstone. It is said to prevent Pokemon from evolving to the next stage. Zack, he gave me this necklace yesterday…" I thought back when he did give me the necklace. He seemed so shy in doing so. When we were in that building in Black City trying to escape, he and I looked at each other in silence for a while… it was odd, I had never looked at him like that before, and neither did he. Then after he walked back to the window to check for a way out thinking that whole thing was done and over with, we found ourselves looking back at each other. "It was completely random for him to give me this…"

"Heh, do you think he likes you?"

"Hm?" I glanced up at her before slowly looking down at the Everstone in my paw. I thought back to when I did notice Zack was acting different a few times since I was in the Pokemon Center after being slammed into the rock wall of that Chargestone Cave. "I do like him. He has saved my life so many times now. He's always been there for me, he's done so much, but I don't know…."

"You should be honest with him. How you feel." She smiled. "You know, he reminds me of my first mate when I was still an Oshawott. He didn't have a name, only called by his species name. We grew up together. I was the jokester of the duo, he the quiet one. Over the years knowing him I felt something between us, something more. He never said anything, did anything, so I decided to act first. A date, well it wasn't really a date, but it was a celebration all of us had to celebrate the starting of this great clan. So one night I got together with him on a hilltop where you could find the perfect place to see all of Unova, we talked, or I was the one who was doing all of the talk mostly, made him smile with my jokes and helped cheer him up. And the next thing we knew it, we looked into each other's eyes and that was when I went for it and kissed him."

"So you kissed him? Then what happened?"

"Yep. The next thing that happened was he told me how much he loved me. He was really shy about it and wanted to act tough about it. Finding the best moment to do so; fighting in a competition match we hold here every year and win the title of Hero of the Cup, a match granted by the chief who is my father granting the winner whatever he or she desired. So he wanted to prove his worth and win me unsure how he would approach my father and tell him the two of us were together and wanted his approval. Surprisingly he did so with raising his temper like he did in the past whenever something like this came up. Not sure why he did, but anyway sometime later our children were born, and in time their children were born and I became a grandmother." Samurott smiled as she teased when asking. "What, do you want me to share my advice on how to get Zack to notice you? Cause I will help you, just gotta ask that is."

"N-no. I'm good, thanks." I chuckled and shook my head. "I just don't think now is the best time to do so."

"Hm?" She cocked her head. "What makes you say that? If it's because of my warriors noticing you two down by the river and bringing you both back, I'm sorry about that."

"I don't think now is the time for that… my friends died today." I said with a sad sigh, still thinking about Leafeon and Jolty. I didn't tell her who these friends were, not the species anyway, only that we lost two of them earlier today. "They are our friends, and to see them go like that was so horrible. Now isn't the time for that. Me here and now walking up to Zack and telling him how I feel, even after they have just died…"

"I see… I'm sorry for your loss. It isn't my place to pry. But, I too know loss…" Samurott with her paws helped dry my tears. Looking over at a wall, I hadn't noticed before on the other side of the cave wall. It was a small shrine with a long piece of a horn on top a small rock once belonging to a Samurott with many dried flowers gathered. "That horn you see belonged to my mate. He died not too long ago. Old age, so he didn't go out in battle like he wanted to, the old fool. His horn did chip off when he was in battle thinking that every battle he ever went into at an old age thought was his last, but all he ever lost instead of his life was his horn."

"How long did it take for you to recover from his loss?" I asked her.

"It took me four months until I had come to terms that he was gone. My children and grandchildren helped me mostly." She sighed. "I remember talking about the funny stories we shared about him. Seeing all he ever accomplished and his legacy. He has saved our clan many times, protecting us all singlehandedly from hunters who wanted to catch us. He saved us from many battles with other clans. Helping us through harsh winters, he was our hero. I have his horn placed here where most of us live so everyone can be reminded of all the things he did for us. But loss is different for everyone, Aqua. I'm sorry I can't offer more help. But you're not alone on this." She placed her paw on my shoulder. I nodded my head.

"Castelia City is just past the bridge to the south of here. Just keep following the river and you'll see it by tomorrow morning. If you'd like, we would help you two pass through the river safely. Many wild Pokemon out there are territorial of the river." She offered, but I shook my head, not wanting them to find out where we really were going, and also not wanting to risk their lives if Purrloin and her gang showed up. It was best to depart on our own and say our goodbyes.

"Thanks for the offer, but me and Zack will manage on our own." But then I remembered the vision I had; asking her about something further down the river, something dangerous. "Um, sorry but is there something uh, is there any dangerous Pokemon down the river? We're trying to maintain our supplies so we don't want to use them all up before we reach home."

"The Samurott leader nodded. "I see. There is a rumor from one of our warriors here that a vicious Pokemon lurks within the forest. We do not know what kind it is, but it has scared some of our bravest from venturing far out of the clan."

"Thanks. We will be careful when Zack and I are walking down the river."

"_A dangerous Pokemon? I wonder what it can be…"_ I thought about that. _"There was nothing else to the vision other than asking the Samurott about the south section of the river. It didn't show me what kind of Pokemon to look out for or where this dangerous Pokemon is. But at least it's something."_

* * *

Walking down the river after leaving the clan shortly after Aqua left the Samurott's cave, I was happy to see Aqua a little happier than she was before. The talk she had must've been something if it had changed her mood.

"What was the talk about?" I asked after noticing a little smile on her face.

"It's um…" she shook her head. "Samurott told me something important about the river we would be walking down. There is a rumor from the Pokemon of the clan that there is a dangerous Pokemon that has been seen there causing trouble for the clan here. She warned us about it and we should be careful. I had to ask this, because in my vision I did ask. But the thing, my vision never showed me what kind of Pokemon it was that the clan have had trouble with. Once again, my visions have proven they can never be truly helpful, instead they give out cryptic messages…"

"Cryptic or not they have helped us during our journey." It was better than knowing about it sooner rather than when it happened. Aqua told me that she wanted to talk to her about this and that… not really saying what 'this and that' meant, but saying the clan has had trouble with another clan living nearby, a rival gang they have known for years. Then I thought back to when Aqua was upset before those Pokemon brought us to that clan. I had wanted to talk to her about Leafeon and Jolty, and maybe try to help with what she was thinking about since Aqua's expression seemed sad.

"Hey Aqua. Um, I wanted to talk to you about Leafeon and Jolty. Um, they were really good friends. They didn't deserve to go out like that. If you ever want to talk, I will always be there. I noticed you were upset back there and i… I didn't really know what to say… uh, s-sorry…"

Aqua smiled and hugged my left arm and rested her head on my shoulder as we walked. "Thanks Zack. I was reminded back there that I am not alone in this. I have you, and you have me. Jolty was named by his parents wanting him to become a Jolteon when he was older." She reminded me of the reason to Jolty's name being what it is. "His brothers and sisters had names which sounded close to the forms they would take upon evolving, but Jolty became an Umbreon."

"Leafeon starting a painting class in that hideout. Paw painting and using brushes with her mouth to paint whatever she felt like, filling the room with colorful paintings." I said after thinking back to the painting class Leafeon was in charge of. "I remember once when I painted a flower; blue stem, red petals since green was taken by little Eevee."

"Yeah, he used the green paint to paint his parents." She laughed. "Leafeon teased Jolty saying he looked sick."

Aqua and I smiled in thought of our friends. "We won't forget them. Jolty, Leafeon, or little Eevee."

"Never." She said, the two of us feeling a little happier and looked over towards the tree to see the sun about to set. Tomorrow we would be closer to Nacrene City, and very soon within the week if everything went well for us would be back in Nuvema Town. we would be home with the others.

To be continued...

* * *

Trivia:

Zack would battle an arrogant male Dewott who wanted Aqua to be his mate, trying to force her to stay with him. In the end, Zack and Aqua would be kicked out of the clan and continue on with their journey.


	37. Chapter 37 Final Battle With… Him

**AN: Hey everyone next chapter may take a little while to upload because of computer problems again, but I was lucky on managing to get this chapter from my computer before it blacked screened on me. Getting it fixed now and I'll have the next chapter sometime up next week. Please enjoy the story and uh, thanks for reading.**

Chapter 37 - Final Battle With… Him

* * *

****

**Pinwheel Forest**

The new day and we already began heading south of the river seeing the Skyarrow Bridge through the trees. It wouldn't take long until we were in Pinwheel forest first before reaching Nacrene City. One thing we made sure of when walking down this river was the rumor the Samurott leader told Aqua the other day. There was a dangerous Pokemon said to be somewhere south of the river that has caused quite the scare for the members of the clan, something we had to be careful of. And yet coming to a close to the walking beside the last remaining section of the river, we never did see anything here other than trees and planes overhead, no other wild Pokemon stopping us in our tracks and challenging us to a battle or needing help with their problems. Instead it was a quiet walk through the river, but nonetheless a cautious one even upon entering Pinwheel Forest.

Not through an actual entrance located on any map, but one northwest of the map near some very large tree trunks leaning up against small cliffs which we then used to pass through. But the first thing we noticed upon entry besides the fallen giant logs were the trees or what happened to them. All around us on nearly every tree were small holes. Aqua walked up to the closest tree and touched it with her paw. "They're completely circle, and it's smooth. What do you think this is?"

I shook my head and walked up to Aqua, looking right up towards the top of the tree trunk to see more small holes then looking at the others. Looking at the holes more closely, I was starting to feel as though I had seen something like this before. But the way the holes were on the trees, the inner sections of the holes were like they were stabbed by something sharp, cone-like. "Maybe a battle happened here with Pokemon?"

"But it doesn't look like any other moves were used other than the one which caused the holes to appear in the tree's. The ground is alright, no blood anywhere, and no burnt marks it's just the trees that are like this."

"I didn't hear any battles this morning or last night. Maybe this happened some time ago?" I asked as Aqua shrugged as she examined the holes again.

"I don't know… they look new. Come on Zack, let's get going. We still have a long walk ahead of us, and I really don't want to be spending a full day looking at trees with a lot of small holes in them." She held my paw and dragged me away from them.

I smiled and let her drag me away and continue with our journey through the forest. _"I guess it was just nothing."_ I thought as Aqua continued to hold my paw as we walked down the forest together. An interesting sight, seeing hundreds of trees with thousands of small holes stabbed into them. An unknown feeling that I had seen stabs like this before… recently.

Pinwheel Forest was somewhat dark with visible sunlight poking through above the tall trees illuminating the vast vegetation growing throughout the forest on most of the trees and cliff walls. With the moss everywhere and growing on everything it kind of made the ground slippery when walking on the moss or trying to climb over the moss covered logs, rocks, but we managed. We passed several Pokemon who lived here, watching for a while as we passed either to make sure we'd stay away from their homes or maybe they had never seen a Dewott like me before. Whatever the reason, we never had any problem with either one of them and peacefully walked through the Pinwheel Forest.

"Hey Zack, do you think, maybe we should talk to some of these Pokemon if they know anything about that dangerous Pokemon the Samurrot leader warned me about?" Aqua asked as we walked, noticing the amount of Pokemon in the forest. Most seemed to be fine, not afraid of us or anything. "I mean we don't want to encounter this Pokemon and be killed by it. We should know what it is we are dealing with first so we don't get ambushed. So why not ask them?"

"You're right. After coming this far we should know what this Pokemon is." I said, and then noticed a Timburr at the side of the main path carrying large logs into a pile. "How about him?"

"Excuse me?" Aqua called out as we approached the Timburr who stopped what he was doing and turned towards us.

"Hm? And what do you two want with me? I ain't done anything, so get lost!" Then Tumburr grunted as he was piling up several small tree logs together.

"Sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if you have seen or heard about a dangerous Pokemon rumored to have been seen?" Aqua said, glancing at the pile of logs he was still stacking I looked at the pile too, but what I noticed on most if not all of them were that they were all filled with small holes everywhere as if stabbed by something really sharp. These small holes were the same ones we saw when first entering this forest. But seeing her look at the logs made him somewhat jumpy, stepping on front of Aqua to block her view of the logs. But not in an aggressive way.

"Nope. I ain't seen no other Pokemon but you two, eyeing my pile." He said as he looked at the pile over his shoulder. "It's my pile! I found it first. A Timburr like me has gotta collect these logs and take 'em back to my home. Oh, the poor sap who left these behind doesn't know the wonders of what good wood can do for a Timburr like me, build a good place to live and possibly attract the attention of some interesting females. Now if ya done asking me with your questions I would recommend the two of you leave me alone to my collecting. Can't work and talk at the same time, and I ain't the kind of Timburr to do both. So buzz off." He grunted turning back around and continued piling up the logs. So we left him be and be off on our way.

"Hm, well that went well." Aqua said quietly as she shrugged. "Let's keep trying to find out if this dangerous Pokemon exists or not here by asking someone else." We didn't stop at just the Timburr, or just asking one more or two, we tried many times talking with other Pokemon we encountered or those that didn't run from us or give us the Timburr treatment telling us to 'buzz off' again. Every Pokemon told us they had never heard or seen any 'dangerous' Pokemon recently or anything deemed as a threat to them. Everything has been pretty normal for the past year for them living in the forest. Apart from trainers and the territorial disputes of some Pokemon, no one has seen anything unusual. We even asked about the strange holes in the trees we saw around the forest, but no one knows anything about it. Some claimed we made it up to spark attention, while others thought they had always been there.

Aqua thought back to her vision of her going in to see the Samurott leader and asking about the south part of the river we walked down on. She wanted to figure out what it meant, almost shrugging it off as a false vision, but we didn't completely ignore it, we weren't careless, we were careful. So through the remainder of the forest we were cautious, Aqua watching our backs.

We both noticed but never said anything until we reached the exit of forest about to enter Nacrene City. Ever since Timburr, we heard a buzzing noise up above the trees. But no matter how far or fast we walked it wouldn't leave us. Something was following us. Aqua and I both saw something when we walked through the forest, something yellow fly behind the trees. We didn't act right then and there; we were waiting for the chance to get into a wider open space instead of a closed path so we would have room to fight if we had to.

Coming to a stop in the center at the exit of the forest with our moves at the ready, I yelled out. "We know you are there! So come out!"

The buzzing got louder, and right in front of us blocking our path was a Pokemon we weren't happy to see. "Like totally outta this world! I can't believe my two least favorite water dudes are standing in front of me again for our third reunion. Only this time, it'll be our last!" And of course the Beedrill made another return. Blocking our path as he flew dowm from the top of the trees. He looked the same as he did the last time we saw him, only this time he had multiple injuries left untreated on his body. Wings slightly cut, head and stinger left with scars.

"Oh great, it's you..." Aqua sighed, rolling her eyes. "What do you want this time?"

"Like dudes; I have trained for the past few weeks for this moment!" He lifted his two stingers up and jabbed at the air. "I trained for many days and nights to have a chance at you water types finally kill you for just having the nerve to try and take over my nest! I fought a lot of weaklings to test my strength and I gotta say I have improved. I was happy to see you two walking in to this forest waiting for my chance to sneak up on the both of ya and kill you both. But you seemed to know I was there… well, I guess we can fight the old fashioned way!"

"Listen to me when I say this; we did not want to have your nest. We were just passing by trying to figure a way to get across the bridge safely without the humans trying to catch us. We didn't know you were there." I told him, hoping he would see reason and would stop trying to find and kill us. "Aqua and I are trying to get home, that's all. Please let us pass. Go home back to your nest and forget about us."

"Please, we don't want to fight you." Aqua said. "We're being chased by horrible Pokemon. Me and Zack just want to go home, away from all of the fighting. Please, please just forget about us and go back home."

"Oh really." He scowled. "Too late for that!" He raised both of his stingers and tried to stab at Aqua with them, but she quickly jumped out of the way. Back away from him with our moves ready, he tapped his stingers together as he said. "Unfortunately for you two water chums, this'll be the end of you. Whoever these Pokemon who are chasing you are will only find you as two rotten corpse's right here after I totally poison the both of you to death. Prepare yourselves, a tsunami is about to come crashing down on you to. Surfs up dudes!"

The Beedrill started the battle off by using Pin Missile at us, shooting many and hitting us in our arms before we had a chance to move out of the way. Guess we figured out how the trees in the forest had multiple holes got like that. The Beedrill used Pin Missile again and again as we ran as far back as we could trying to evade them while separating from each other so either one of us could attack him. But the Beedrill flew upwards so he could look down on us while he attacked.

"Haha! Check this out dudes! I learnt to master this move so I could instantly use it over and over without getting tired." He laughed as he fired more Pin Missiles at Aqua and me, finding the timing to either dodge or use a move to bring him back down hard. "How long can you two weaklings last for? Eh?" He started laughing, closing his eyes while he shot another barrage of Pin Missile's at Aqua, that gave me an opening to throw my scalchop at him and use Razor Shell, hitting him right in face and he fell lower to the ground, giving Aqua a chance to move in and use Ice Beam and hit him with it, but didn't freeze him. "*Shudders* D-dudes… nice try, but one mistake by me won't be enough for you two water dudes to walk out of here alive. I barely felt it. But you two will definitely feel my stingers stabbing you in your hearts!" Suddenly, Beedrill charged right at me with Pursuit. It was a move I only saw at the last minute come at me, so I quickly lift up my left arm trying to block the attack. The Beedrill's Pursuit hit me and I pushed back stopping before I hit my head on a tree and fell on my back. My right foot twisted really awkwardly making like a pop noise before I hit the ground.

About to stand up quickly to fight back, I realized my left wrist was broken and I twisted my right ankle. "Great! Just what I needed!" I growled before picking up my scalchop and using it to deflect another Pin Missile Beedrill used. But I was still hit by them. Not fatal attacks but attacks that would deplete my energy down by a lot until I grew unconscious, then it would only be a matter of time before the Beedrill would move in and unleash a fatal attack.

Aqua rushed up to the Beedrill preparing to strike down at him with a Razor Shell, jumping up to strike down at him. But the Beedrill noticed her and turned. Firing another Pin Missile at her, to our surprise the attack didn't faze her let alone touch her at all, that's when I noticed something behind the Beedrill coming up close to him before he realized.

Behind the Beedrill was another Aqua, she had used Double Team to create another copy of her fooling Beedrill to attack the wrong one. The Beedrill was struck with a Razor Shell by Aqua, cutting him down and pushing him back slamming down hard into the center of the clearing. But she didn't wait for him to get up, Aqua was ready to finish this battle, and so was I. Beedrill managed to stand up and quickly readied his stinger to use Poison Jab. Aqua used Ice Beam and I used Razor Shell by throwing my scalchop with my right paw. The attacks collided with one another and exploded upon impact. The blast knocking Aqua off her feet and landing on her back next to me, but as for the Beedrill, he was sent flying off up above the trees and over the forest.

Aqua got up and carefully checked my wrist to find it… uh, twisted in a way one wouldn't see a wrist twisted like that. "Ah! My ankle, I think I twisted my ankle!" I groaned, trying to stand or at least sit up myself into a more comfortable position rather than having to sit on a rock digging into my spin.

"Zack, we can't stay here." She said as she got up and helped me up, wrapping my right arm around her shoulder as I awkwardly hopped with one foot out of that forest. "That explosion no doubt was probably heard by nearly everyone within the forest. The echo could still be heard even after the Beedrill was sent flying from the attacks we used."

"Y-yeah… let's find somewhere we can rest up." I winced as we walked. Hoping the explosion wasn't as loud as we thought, gaining the attention of those who might be looking for us.

Leaving the forest, we were now in Nacrene City. a place I remembered being in several times before I met Aqua. But unfortunately we couldn't stay there we had to get ourselves as far away as we could from the area as possible. That explosion from the battle might attract unwanted attention. I was injured, so we had to find a place to lay low until my arm was healed up and my ankle cured. This would only delay us. It may even hold us back for a while until then. So all we could do was keep on going

* * *

****

**Skyarrow Bridge**

The Beedrill was sent flying above Pinwheel Forest and towards the Skyarrow Bridge slamming right into the middle of the road. Beedrill wasn't dead; he was still clinging on, hardly any strength left within him.

The bridge that day was somewhat occupied by a handful of people walking up and down the bridge, most not realizing that a Pokemon had fallen from the sky landing right in the middle of the road with a heavy slam.

"Ow!" He winced, trying his hardest to move his wings so he could attempt to fly back into battle determined to see us dead. "C-c'mon… moves your wings…d-dude! G-get up and f-finish them off! Ugh… instead I think I'll j-just rest here… I have no strength left in me…" But if he did have an ounce of strength left he would've been able to escape his fate as a shadow just big enough to block out the suns light shinning down on him cooling him down, something he was thankful of at first, wanting to thank the one who did so. But his eye widened at what exactly was that blocked the suns heat.

"Whoa! A Beedrill all the way out here!" The Beedrill turned his eyes to get a look at the high pitched voice shielding him from the sun. It was a boy no older than 12, a blue cap, t-shirt, shorts, sneakers and holding a Pokeball in his hand.

"_A-a-a trainer!?"_ Beedrill gasped in his mind. He knew what they did. He had heard the warnings from other Pokemon who he once knew where he lived and how he should never approach them otherwise he would be captured by them. _"N-no way dude! No way! I have to catch up to them water fools before they get away! C'mon you stupid wings… m-move!"_

"Wow, you look beat up. Don't you worry; I'll take you to a Pokemon Center right away. After I catch you that is! Do you want me to catch you? I mean, I really don't want to catch Pokemon who don't to be caught."

"N-no! Don't catch me! Just take me back to the forest you nitwit and leave me be! I gotta restore my energy back to face them water dudes again!" What the Beedrill said didn't translate well to the boy watching over him. The boy however assumed he did want to be caught. So the boy tossed the ball at Beedrill who could only watch as the ball dropped from the boys hand until it touched Beedrill.

"C'mon. I can still fight it! Fight it! N-nooooo!" The red light had engulfed him as he was warped inside the ball. Try as he could with all the little strength he had left remaining, he couldn't free himself from the ball. After three shakes later, the ball clicked and the Beedrill was caught by a Friendship Ball. The boy cheered quickly before picking up the ball and running across the bridge to reach Castelia City to heal the boys new Pokemon. We never saw that Beedrill again. We assumed he finally left us after his defeat and returned home not knowing he was caught by a trainer.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Beedrill was originally a one off character who appeared in just one chapter and that would be it. Because he was fun to write I decided to include him as a recurring character who would challenge the two every encounter.


	38. Chapter 38 The Waves

**AN: And I am back with a computer now fixed (for now that is.) I wrote this chapter while waiting to get back into the writing and hope to finish up the story very soon. Thanks for reading.**

Chapter 38 – The Waves

* * *

****

**Beach Near Accumula Town**

"You have died once already. I killed you and revived you unintentionally." Juro's voice after he had captured me, Sakura, and Isaac, trapping me, Dewott and Latias in a room revealing he had killed my entire family and I, revived us to become those reanimated corpses, but for me I was revived accidentally.

"I'm Sakura. This here is my best friend Minccino!" Sakura Kanai, the first human to join my team before I became a member of The Savior's.

"The name's Isaac Anderson. It's nice to meet you Zack." Isaac Anderson voice when he first decided to join my first team when I became a Savior.

"I'll pick… Oshawott!" My voice when I was fourteen. I chose Oshawott to be my Pokemon to start off my career with The Savior's.

"I'm Espeon. And I wish to travel with you." Espeon after deciding to come with us. Unknowingly to us, she was travelling with us to hunt down her ex trainer's killer.

"Brent Jackson is the name. Catching girls is my game… that was meant to be a joke, ya know." Brent Jackson, one my friends from the Kanto region.

"Lisa Rivers of the Sinnoh Branch Savior's. I look forward to working with you both." Lisa Rivers, one of my friends from Sinnoh. This was right after we first met.

"Zack, I am happy to announce you as Rank 01 of The Savior's. Congratulations my boy." Clark Stone, the leader of The Savior's Unova branch promoting me to the highest level of The Savior's.

"I'm thinking about opening up my own bakery here. What do you think Zack?" It was my mom Ayaka, days before Shiny Latias killed her.

"Look into my eyes… enter the dark place… stand up!" Shiny Latias before I lost my memory. And the last thing I heard before I bolted up awake.

My eye open and I jerked upright. I was back in the cave Aqua and I found a week ago on the beach. I clutched my head trying to make sense of those voices I heard. Most I recognized others I didn't. I have had those kinds of dreams lately, dreams were I keep hearing voices of people and Pokemon I knew; friends, family, enemies. But I couldn't make sense of any of them.

With my wrist still broken we couldn't risk the travel, even with the sightings of Purrloin and her gang still out there somewhere wherever they were so we had to make do with staying in this small cave we stumbled upon late at night while searching for a place to stay. It was a cave at the side of a beach near a town called Accumula Town. It was home to a lot of tasty berries for us to eat, and a stream with fresh water for us not too far away.

We had been here for a week, not wanting anyone following us back to Nuvema Town so we had to stay silent for a while. Aqua had turned this empty cave we were living in into a warm and comfy home for us, filled with nice flowers to living this place us, a nice bed for us to sleep on; dry leaves and straw. A little on the prickly side, but otherwise acceptable sleeping material.

The week we had been here we rarely did communicate with other Pokemon living nearby. If we did have to talk to the others it would be small and traded food and useful items to in a way keep them silent about us being here. Something we were cautious on doing the first time around, keeping it small to get more food from the area we didn't dare go into fearing we would be spotted, and our hiding would possibly turn into running from zero to ten within a day.

Purrloin's Pokemon through from trusted intel from two Pokemon who had helped us find a place to stay had become two we had trusted, two Pachirisu's living nearby, carefully watching each Pokemon coming through the area and asking questions like; 'have you seen some friends of mine? Two Dewott's?' thankfully they didn't find us and searched elsewhere. I was really surprised after all this time the Pachirisu's kept to their word and never told anyone we were here.

I glanced to the side to see Aqua still asleep on the hay mat we made together before moving into this small cave by the ocean. She had been working hard the past week; getting food, water, making sure we had plenty of healing items left for the next treatment. I wanted to do something to make it up to her for all she has done, but I didn't know what.

I got up off the bed and let Aqua sleep as I exited the cave to get some fresh air and to think about what to do for Aqua, something special for her. The sunrise was always beautiful here on the beach, it never got old and every sight of it seemed new every time I saw it. I walked a little further down the beach but not too far away from the cave sitting down on the sand facing the ocean. I sat there thinking of how peaceful it was here; even thinking this palce would be a perfect place for me and Aqua to live. We had a good source of food, water, and a great view.

"_What would be good to give to Aqua 'thank you for all you have done.' Saying that would seem small, I need something bigger than that."_ I thought sighing, picking up a small grain of sand in my paws and letting it slide. _"Maybe I should've waited and given her the Everstone Necklace now instead of back then… would've made this a lot easier for me. I could go and get her a nice breakfast, there are some nice fruits and berries nearby I can go and grab and prepare for her a delicious breakfast so she doesn't have to… hmm… with a still broken wrist that'll be hard for me to carry that much food back… she probably would wake up before I can set the food up for her." _My wrist wasn't as bad as before, but it was healing up. But not fast enough so the two of us could leave and return to Nuvema Town where Espeon and my friends and family wait for my return. I still had hardly any memory of them, well except for Gardevoir who travelled with us many times throughout our days as a member of the Savior's who had a strange obsession on collecting dictionaries, something which Aqua said was… interesting, but puzzled by why she would even collect them in the first place or about her fascination over them. Something to this day still puzzles me.

I touched my eye patch covering my left eyelid as it began to itch. _"If I can't find her something nice… maybe I could do something to show how much I appreciate everything she has done?"_ I thought as I turned and watched the waves. I removed my eye patch and opened my left eye. A glass eye was fitted in to fill in the socket. It was odd at first but I had grown used to it. _"The breeze feels nice. I hate wearing this… it would've been worse if Aqua weren't here to help treat my wounds across my eyelids. All this time she has treated my wounds. So how do I appreciate everything she has done for me?" _Then as I watched the waves some more, it hit me and I smiled. _"Of course, since we don't know how long it will take, I can teach her how to swim!"_ It was something. Had we have been somewhere else I could've done more. More gifts, an ice cream sundae, or maybe something a little more fun the two of us could enjoy together. If my left wrist wasn't broken I would've been able to get in the water with Aqua, so I guess I'll just have to teach her by sitting on the rocks sticking out of the water and hold her paws with my right paw.

So later that day, after Aqua and I had our breakfast, we walked down the beach and sat down on the sand. At first it was to talk about how things were going in the forest surrounding the area, updates on the two Pachirsu's and if new Pokemon had entered asking questions about us or hinting at it. And then I would bring up the swimming after.

"We're so close, huh?" Aqua said as she turned her head to where Nuvema Town would be. I nodded and looked where she was looking. Just a day or two walk through the trees and over the hills and we would be home. "Once you've healed up we can get moving, and we'll finish this together."

"Yeah… I would've liked to have remembered more about Nuvema Town before we get there, but I suppose this will have to do." I sighed; disappointed I only had bits and pieces of the town. "I would've liked to go in and know where everything was instead of going in blind. For me, it'll be like going in my first time, so I'll try not to get us lost on the way."

"Don't worry about it. We'll use the map book if we get lost." she chuckled. "From what I have read about the town, the Pokemon Laboratory is very close to the town exit. So hopefully we won't have to look too far."

"Did you read anything about the laboratory?" I asked, hoping she would know since I didn't read too much about the lab and instead focused on reading about the town's layout.

"Of course I do. Let me see…" She nodded, pausing briefly as she thought about the lab. "It's a Pokemon Laboratory where trainers can store their Pokemon if they have too many Pokemon in hand when capturing Pokemon exceeding the limit of six per trainer. Not only that but new trainers can obtain their starter Pokemon there; the fire type is Tepig, the grass type is Snivy, and the water type is Oshawott. The professor who runs the laboratory is named Professor Juniper. From the photo alone she looked like a nice person."

"Professor Juniper…" I remembered a few things from Professor Juniper. I remembered meeting her on the day I left home to join the Savior's. I arrived at the lab before it opened and waited outside. I remember seeing her carry some heavy boxes and offered to help her. "I remember carrying some heavy boxes in the lab for her before it opened. I think it was the day I left home to join the Savior's."

"When you were still an Oshawott?" She asked me and I nodded. She then used her finger to draw an Oshawott in the sand. "Heh, I still can't imagine what you look liked as an Oshawott. I try to imagine a normal Oshawott but different fur color. Black fur on the body, feet and ears, face and arms white?"

"Not sure." I shrugged. "We'll have to ask the professor about it when we get to the town."

"Uh-huh. Then I'll finally get to know what a Samurott version of your variant looks like. Plus I can finally know what you looked like as an Oshawott. Maybe they have photos of you as an Oshawott and maybe when you were a little baby. Aww, you must've been so cute." She teased as she playfully poked my stomach gently with her fingers.

I shook my head, trying hard to not to blush at that in my attempt to shoo her away. "Yeah, yeah." but doing so made her do it even more, so I just let her thinking she would tire herself out.

When she did, Aqua looked back at the forest. "The Pachirsu's told me yesterday the trainers who came in the forest two days ago finally left. So it's just us here and no other intruders. I'm going to go and thank them in two days with some of the berries we have picked."

"I'm sure they'll like that. Tell them I said hi." She smiled.

"I will. You know, it really is nice. All of this running we have been doing for many months now, the hiding, the scavenging for food… I'm happy that we're not doing that." She turned to me and asked. "Do you think Purrloin and her gang have given up? Do you think Leo Valentine has given up too?"

"I sure hope so. I don't ever want to see them again." I shook my head. "But I really do hope the stories of Purrloin's stories of her never-ending searches for those who leave are just stories to frighten Pokemon from trying to escape. Leo Valentine, not sure how he ever managed to get Purrloin working alongside with him, but if Purrloin gave up on the search, I'm sure he would. I didn't see him with any other human out there, so if Purrloin is gone then he'll probably give up."

"I don't know much about Leo or who he works with, but from what I do know from my time with him when I was young he isn't one to let a test subject go and move onto another."

"You know if he ever shows up again I won't let him take you." She smiled and held my paw.

"I know. Thank you Zack." She moved her eyes to look down at my left wrist resting in the bandages and asked. So, how is your wrist? Does it feel numb?" I shook my head.

"It isn't numb. I think it's healed up very quickly. It still hurts when I move it, but not as much as it did when I first broke it. Soon we'll be leaving here and heading home."

"I do me want to leave this beach, but a part of me doesn't." She sighed as she leaned back. "It is beautiful here, peaceful, and hardly any humans to catch us, or aggressive Pokemon nearby. But I know we will have to give up on this place and go back home."

In my head I was thinking _"Then how about we come back and make this our home, just the two of us? Hmm… I doubt she would want that. She'd probably want to stay by herself… " _But it did give me an opportunity to bring up about the ocean; maybe she would be interested in swimming. "There is plenty of food in the sea you know. So if you do want to live here, you got to learn how to swim first. With the amount of berries and fruit nearby, it won't last long if that is all you eat. So um, how about since we are here, how about I teach you how to swim?"

"Huh?" She cocked her head. "Zack, we can't do it now. Your wrist is still broken. And that bandage is new, and we are almost out of them, we can't get it wet."

"It won't get wet. See those rocks over there?" I pointed at the rocks sticking out of the shallow part of the water. "I can stay on top of them and hold your paw and I'll teach you how to swim from there. My bandages won't get wet."

Aqua looked worried as she looked at the rocks I pointed to, how far away it was from dry land. I saw this, realizing she was worried about that and so I tried to help set her mind at ease. "I have been over there before. The water is up to my stomach so it's not too deep."

"Uh… are you sure it's safe? Because I don't want to be drifting away and out towards the ocean panicking." I held her paw and smiled.

"It'll be okay. I won't let that happen. I'll hold your paw and I won't let go. I promise."

She was hesitant for some time. Her paw clenched tighter in mine. After one last look at the rocks and back at me, she slowly nodded her head. "Um, okay. Please don't let go."

I stood up, still holding her paw. "I won't let go." She also stood up still holding my paw. She was reluctant to follow as I stepped forward the ocean, towards the rocks above the shallow part where I can sit upon and help Aqua swim from there. She walked closer to me as we walked, almost stepping over each other's feet before even touching the water. But after some encouragement Aqua stepped in slowly into the water and we walked towards the rocks.

With help from Aqua I climbed onto the rock and sat down on it, holding Aqua's paw before noticing she was clutching mine looser than before we entered the water. She was easing up slowly, so I waited for Aqua to get adjusted to the water before starting.

"Do you know what you are doing?" She asked, as a small wave pushed Aqua up against the rock I was on. "Because I really don't know about this to be honest…"

"I remember how to swim. Luckily all of my memories on how to swim came to mind months ago… at least I hope that was everything." I said out loud, almost forgetting about trying to help Aqua feel calm before we started.

"Oh!" She groaned before another wave pushed her up against the rock. "If I drown, I am going to haunt you for the rest of your days!"

"You're not going to drown. Just remember that I am here to help you out. Because we are at the shallow part of the beach, you can simply stand up without worry." Aqua looked down at her feet and trailed the ground with her feet. "Okay, first let's get you used to floating in the water. Hold onto the side of the rock. And I'll hold onto your paw." Aqua placed both of her paws onto the side of the rock while I kept my paw on top of her right paw. "Okay, lift your legs up." Aqua slowly did, she was doing good. After telling her how she was doing she seemed eager to learn more, perhaps even finding it fun to do for how much she was smiling. "Ready for the next step? Or do you want to practice this some more?"

"I'm ready… I'm ready to continue I mean. As long as it doesn't mean I can let go of this rock… I don't think I am ready for that."

"Don't worry, we're not there yet. Okay, um, now with your legs off the ground, try kicking you legs straight. Not too fast." Aqua kicked her legs keeping them close to the surface of the water behind her. After a minute of this I let her stop. "Nice going Aqua, you're doing really well."

"Really?" I nodded. Aqua let her right paw go off the side of the rock but still kept hold of the side with her left. She was finding this while swimming thing to be easier now. It would only be a matter of time before she was used to it, letting go of the rock and without me to swim from the shallow end to the deep. "You know, I wish your wrist wasn't still broken so I could've pulled you in here with me." She chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at that. Wanting to splash some water at her but didn't, thinking she would've been angry if I let go of her with my only usable paw left to do so when I promised I wouldn't.

Then all of a sudden, the water around Aqua pulled away and almost touched the bottom. The sky was different, as it seemed to have gone a little darker, like a large cloud above had almost covered the sun. But upon looking up, the two of us learnt too late that it wasn't a cloud covering the sun, it was a large wave, the biggest I had ever seen up close; twenty ft. Yeah, to a human that doesn't look to big, but a Dewott being smaller than a human it looked much bigger. The water was now knee level by Dewott comparison, not human. So I jumped in the water and held her left paw in our attempt to get out of the water before the wave got us. But we were too slow in doing so and the wave came crashing down upon us. I don't remember much about the experience on being caught up in something like that and between attempting to run away from it and washing up shore, only my eye was closed during that time, feeling the water get in my ears, up my nose, and into my mouth almost swallowing some. It felt like it wouldn't end, that this feeling of darkness and taste of salt water in the mouth would last forever.

We landed back on the beach side by side soaking wet from the sudden wave that hit us washing us back to shore back on dry land. I wasn't sure how long it lasted, but I was just happy to be out of that wave and back on the ground. Slightly dazed from the huge wave I shook my head and asked Aqua if she was all right. "Hey, you okay Aqua?" I asked before coughing out of the water that had entered my mouth.

"Uh-huh… gah! I almost swallowed some of that water…" she shuddered, finally opening her eyes. "Uh? H-hey Zack! Look." She looked down and the two of us saw we were still holding each other's paws. Then from out of nowhere we started laughing. And after some time, I looked at her, and she looked at me.

We stared into others eyes for a long time, and then I looked away. Something I thought was embarrassment at first; maybe something in the back of my head telling me what I was doing was wrong, because of Latias. "Uh… I, sorry I um… I'll, I'll go and get lunch ready." I began to stand, feeling somewhat awkward about the situation. It would be a while before this whole thing would be forgotten about and everything back to normal soon. But then Aqua touched my arm with her paw so suddenly causing me to stop from moving up.

"Zack…" Our eyes once more found their way onto one another. And slowly we were drawn to each other and couldn't look away. Aqua leaned in, and I leaned forward and we kissed. This whole thing I felt was new to me, although something about it kind of felt familiar, and I chose not to think of that and accepted what was happening here. I thought it was only I who had had these feelings for her- uh I mean um, I thought she didn't feel the same way was what I am trying to say. I was going to do something earlier, talk to her about it, but I was afraid of losing what we had, regretting it later and finding things awkward between us.

With the kiss finally over, we pulled away from each other, and we smiled and didn't speak. Aqua chuckled and stood up before offering me her paw to help me up, and I took it noticing my bandages were all wet and my wrist had worsened. But it didn't matter, i was just happy being with her and walked together with Aqua paw in paw as we made our way to the cave.

To be continued...

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

Zack originally had both his legs broken and couldn't move anywhere, so they remained in the cave until he was healed up. Aqua wanted to go to Nuvema Town herself to find Zack's friends to bring them to him, but she and Zack were worried about Purrloin and her gang still out there still hunting them down.


	39. Chapter 39 So It Has Come To This

Chapter 39 – So It Has Come To This

* * *

****

**The Beach Near Accumula Town – Two Months Later**

Two months have passed. So much has happened since that day. One morning I woke up and walked to the beach thinking of some way I could repay Aqua for all she has done for me; treating my wounds and just being there for me on our journey back home. So being near the ocean I asked her if she would like to learn how to swim, Aqua accepted of course and the two of us spent an hour within the water learning how, or she did while I remained on top of a rock since my left wrist has been broken from a fight with a Beedrill weeks before. But as I was teaching her how to swim, a large wave washed us both up back to shore still holding on to one another refusing to let go.

Then Aqua and I looked at each other differently than we had before. It wasn't the first time we ever looked at one another like this, but when we did, shyly, we moved closer to the other and kissed. And from that day Aqua and I became a couple. And in those two months in that cave… well one thing lead to another and Aqua and I are now parents awaiting the hatching of our two eggs.

Two days since they arrived, and everything all came down on me, everything I had lost all suddenly rushed back into my mind; friends, family, my past adventures and my identity had come back. Even memories of Latias, the relationship we had… everything. I could only imagine her face when I would return to town after all this time to see me with another. If I never lost my memory, things would've been different… I did love Aqua, I loved her so much, she made me happy. I didn't know what to do about any of this. Latias and I had a plan to leave this region to go out there into the world to relax and be free from the fighting. I hoped Latias and I could still be friends… that's what I thought about ever since I recovered all of my lost memories. I didn't know about Latias. I didn't know I had anyone waiting for me back home…

Aqua stayed all day in the cave after the eggs came, tended them and made sure they were warm, waiting for the day our children would hatch from the eggs. All it took was warmth and time and they would hatch. We originally waited for my wrist to heal up before moving out of the beach and heading home, but then Aqua got pregnant and we were delayed for two more months waiting for them to hatch before leaving.

"Zack, come quick." She smiled as she placed a paw on top of one of the two eggs before touching the other. "I can feel movement!"

I walked away from the cave entrance and kneeled down in front of the eggs and placed both of my paws on the two of them feeling the eggs shake for a moment before staying still. "Almost out. I'd say it'll take a day or two before they'll hatch." I smiled at Aqua, and she smiled back. I suspected at first she was angry or upset that me and Latias were a couple still before I meet Aqua. But she wasn't. It took some time, but she told 'how could you have known?' I told her that I loved her, and that I wanted to be with her and help raise our children.

I would have to break the news to Latias and hope she'd understand… it would be awkward coming back home, coming back with all of this… I didn't know how to explain this to the others without coming off as being a real jerk to Latias and the others, with them shouting at me; 'how could you?!' 'Didn't you love Latias?' 'Why did you cheat on her?' and expecting a punch or two. It's not like I meant for this to happen.

But one thing still remains unclear about everything; what happened to the others after I ended up with no memory and left cut up washed up on the beach. So I dipped into that side of me I hadn't been in for so long; by entering the Dark Place, a state in which all Psychic types can enter to train one's mind to become stronger with their moves, search and view memories of the past to find something or to reminisce. I relearned Psychic to fully have a total of four moves, and tried to contact Espeon or Latias. But so far I have had nothing but silence. Nuvema Town was still there, full of people still, but no Espeon or Latias. Maybe they were out doing some errands at the laboratory garden, or they were busy and couldn't talk yet or maybe I wasn't strong enough to reach them.

"Are you still worried, Zack?" She asked me, I only nodded my head in silence. "You didn't know this would happen. I'm sure if we explain all of this when we get back, they'll understand."

"Mostly confused and upset, well Latias will be…" I sighed, lightly touching both eggs with my paws finding comfort on feeling the warmth from the eggs. "I don't want things to be awkward… I hope she can understand."

"Me too." Aqua place her paw on top of mine and smiled. "You know, I have been thinking of names for the two. Wanna hear them?" I nodded and sat beside her. "Female names I have chosen; Talia and one I do like and have thought about it a lot, but I want to name one if they are female Kairi."

"Named after your mother, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I think she would've liked that. So Zack, hove you come up with male names for the two if they are male?"

"Sure; Light and Tai. Light sounded nice when I was thinking about names and Tai too."

"Light and Tai… Talia and Kairi…" She said quietly. "But if we have a son and daughter, which of the two names can we give them? I suppose upon looking at their faces we'll be able to decide on their names. That we'll know that way on what their names will be." Aqua picked on of the eggs up and handed it to me while she picked up the other so the two of us could keep it warm. "I can't wait when they are a little bit older so they can discover the most beautiful taste of ice cream…"

"You do know ice cream costs money to get. And I don't want to buy a million Pokedollars worth of ice cream a year. I don't have that much money from my years as a member of the Savior's. Probably eight-hundred thousand I'd say."

"Eight-hundred thousand?" She whistled. "Eight-hundred thousand ice creams… I know that'll satisfy me for my entire life."

"Yeah right am I spending all of that money on ice creams."

"Four-hundred thousand ice creams then? C'mon, it's half!"

"No way. I want to spend this money on something else. Maybe use it to buy a home somewhere. Or maybe go on relaxing vacations perhaps."

"One-hundred thousand? Plus I will share them with you?"

"Oh, so you weren't going to share the others with me then?"

"Geez, Zack you're no fun." She sighed as she sat back against the cave wall holding the egg close. "All I wanted was to experience all the ice cream flavors out there. Even the bizarre ones with my loving mate. I'd have let you tried the delicious flavors first eating from the same bowl…"

"I told you this already, once we arrive in the town and after the reunion and dealing with this, then I'll treat you to ice cream. My treat. I do know some good ice cream stores in town I can take you to."

"Sounds good." Aqua smiled, moving closer to me as we held our children. "How old can they be to have ice cream?"

I thought about, unsure about the age a Pokemon must be to have ice cream or if they can have any. Aqua seemed and I seemed to be fine after eating it, so our children would be fine too. "Maybe when they are older."

Aqua smiled and rested her head on my shoulder nodding. The two of us looked out from the cave entrance to see the sun about to set. Very soon we would be leaving this beach and returning home. We would arrive in a day or two and then I would find my friends and family, a difficult and awkward conversation would follow, one I wasn't sure I'd be prepared for, but I had to do it.

We watched the sun set disappearing over the horizon as the moon soon came into view and brightened up the beach its light. Aqua set the two eggs on top of a pile of grass while putting some on them and staying close to them to keep them warm. Aqua lay down on her side beside them preparing to sleep for the night while I was putting away the food from the makeshift basket we made and placed them into the bag. I looked at Aqua with the eggs and smiled, hoping things would turn out well back home.

"Hello, Zack." The two of us immediately turned towards the cave entrance at the voice of her… standing at the entrance with a huge grin ear to ear was Purrloin. We had almost forgotten about her, thinking we would be safe here, the Pachirisu's would tell us everything about who came and went in this part of the region. 'Had they just simply found us by chance?' I first thought unsure how they actually found us, we were careful about going in and out of the area. Or did the Pachirisu's give us up? Maybe threatened them since the search had lasted them a long time. I had thought they would at least given up by now or lost us going in another direction from where we were going.

Behind Purrloin I noticed more Pokemon waiting outside, some I recognized from her gang, others I didn't. There were too many for me to count, most if not all were preparing to use their moves. This would in a battle and I didn't want Aqua involved so I stepped between her and Purrloin.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, with my right paw hovering over my scalchop on my hip ready to strike. Purrloin's smile grew wider and leaned on the side of the entrance.

"Oh just searching for you. It took us some time, a little bit of east, a little bit of west, but we managed. I guess we got lucky on our search for you Zack after you were kidnapped by… you." She said as she pointed at Aqua. "You really did have us travelling all over the region looking for you after you kidnapped Zack from us. Not only did you have us doing that, but you brainwashed Zack into defending you from my hammer attack that would've killed you once and for all for all of your evil deeds." Purrloin sniffed. "To think that I hurt my beloved like that still pains me to this day. But the worst thing you did was to take my beloved Dewott from me and make him yours, having children, having a little home by the beach…" she shuddered. "It makes me sick thinking about it. That is why I am going to take Zack back home with me and I'll kill you and maybe your children thus ending your bloodline."

"Purrloin, I want you to leave us alone." I stepped forward closer to her. I would've easily have pushed her out with my Psychic, but because she was a Dark type and me being Pyschic it wouldn't have worked. So instead I had to try and reason with her. "I am not your beloved, I never will be. I am taking Aqua back to where I belong, my home. I remember everything about my past, who I was and where I came from. I love Aqua, not you. So return home and forget about us. We want nothing more to do with you." Purrloin then shook her head as she began to chuckle.

"That evil bitch sure has corrupted your mind. But don't, I'll make sure her she suffers while we return home. I just have to bring you back to me." Purrloin stepped forward and hugged me, digging her claws into my back. "Don't you understand, I am trying to save you. Don't you see, she's evil and wants to corrupt you." I pushed her off of me and she fell back.

"She isn't evil, you are are Purrloin." Purrloin gasped, slowly backing away. "I have told you once, so I'll tell you again; take your gang, go back home and leave us alone!"

"Y-Y-You… h-help!" She cried as she was finally out of the cave. "Everyone! Attack the Dewott's! But don't kill them, render them unconscious! They have been corrupted." Purrloin stood up and ran into the crowd of Pokemon as they surrounded our home. Before running outside to face the Pokemon I placed a Protect around the entrance of the cave, protecting both Aqua and eggs, preventing anyone from entering, and also preventing Aqua from getting involved.

"Zack!" I heard her call out to me as I stepped out of the cave and onto the beach. I didn't look back; instead I faced towards the many Pokemon charging toward me ready to attack me. At the back of the crowd I noticed Leo Valentine standing as he watched as the battle commenced. I was happy that I used Protect at the entrance of the cave; at least he wouldn't be able to get his hands over Aqua. I would deal with him after I first dealt with Purrloin and her gang.

To be continued...

* * *

Trivia:

Purrloin originally in the first draft of this chapter would've been with Lucian the Buizel for this battle. It was a two on two battle while her gang would've watched.


	40. Chapter 40 What I Fight for

Chapter 40 - What I Fight for

* * *

****

**The Beach Near Accumula**

The beach was lit up by the moons bright light shinning down on us all. I could see their breaths in the cold from all of the opponents I was faced with.

Three Lucario's were among the many that surrounded me from what I could count. Four Machoke's, at least ten Growlithe's, and one Deerling, Pikachu and an Emolga while Purrloin and Lucian stood close to Leo watching as the fight had begun.

I didn't see the first attack, I only felt it as it hit my back, an Ember hit me by one of the Growlithe's as they advanced first among the many Pokemon surrounding me. I rolled out of the way as one of three Lucario's and two Machoke's moved in to attack me, stopping in front of the Emolga and the Pikachu immediately using Razor Shell upon approach. That was when all of the Pokemon moved in to attack, moves firing into the dirt missing me and exploding creating a miniature sandstorm around us all. I struggled with the first half of the battle as some moves I was hit by set me back quite a lot to the point I was almost defeated right then and there this soon in battle, but the others using their moves had missed and hit others so I was happy about that. I wanted them to flee or surrender the battle, not wanting to attack and defeat them myself since my ability absorbs all of the energy out of a defeated Pokemon killing them while making me stronger.

Maybe that's what kept me going. In the battle I did defeat one or two of them, feeling new energy within me healing my wounds when at times I was at the brink of defeat.

"You fools! I said defeat him not fumble around like silly clowns! Where did all of those months you all spent training go to? Down the drain is where!" I heard Purrloin shout still standing beside Leo, his eyes still looking over at the cave. No doubt trying to find Aqua, finding more interest than his prize experiment instead of the battle in front. But he wouldn't be able to get a hold of her, not while my Protect around the cave entrance was still active. However, losing connection with my current Protect would leave Aqua and the eggs unprotected. I just had to hold out until then.

Two Machoke's approached and attacked with a Low Kick and one Vital Throw. The Low Kick I did evade, but the Vital Throw was the one I was hit by. Grabbing me by my leg and my neck, the Machoke threw me almost over the Pokemon surrounding me and hit the head of a Lucario I'd say cushioned the blow. The female Emola ran at me with a Quick Attack when I was down, but I managed to grab her in time using Psychic stopping her in her tracks and didn't waste a second before throwing her far back out towards the ocean.

"I've got this stupid Dewott!" Spat Lucian as he entered the battle, pushing a Machoke and a Growlithe aside as he moved in. The Growlithe's attacked with Ember's, and one that hit me was a Fire Fang. Before getting that one off of me, I had to fend off the eight Growlithe's moving in trying to finish the battle with Razor Shell's one after the other and then finally Scald at the Pikachu attempting to use Electro Ball, a move I was most definitely weak against.

After defeating three of the Growlithe's, I noticed a Machoke had just finished using Bulk up making him stronger as he moved in and used Low Kick into my stomach.

Then from within the crowd of Pokemon surrounding me emerged Lucian charging at me, but I stopped him with my arm. His arm was against mine as we glared at each other. "I never liked you to begin with, Zack. I don't care that Purrloin wants you alive; I don't care because I am going to kill you, your mate, and take Purrloin as my own and lead the gang together as we should! Eh? How d'ya like that? Better than the thought of you two leading the gang!"

"Like I care about you, Purrloin or her gang!" I grunted as I kicked him off his feet to deal with a Growlithe coming right at me. "You're all pathetic!"

The Growlithe attacked with another Ember, an attack that didn't do much to me to give me any serious injuries, but enough to push me back into the Pokemon behind me using their moves to attack, attacks I didn't see coming until it was too late. A Metal Claw from one of the two Lucario's, another Low Kick into my leg after the Lucario's attack by a Machoke, and a Fire Fang from one of the last five Growlithe's left still standing. The attacks all took a big chunk out of me, but to top it all off was when a Machoke used Vital Throw and threw me face first into the sand.

I used Psychic to throw off the Pokemon ready for a second wave, helping me to buy some time while I planned out my next attack. _"Damn it, there's so many of them! Before recovering all of my memory recently I skipped out on training. If I had time I would train I would probably be ready for this."_ I thought as I searched my surroundings, how many Pokemon were left, if I had a chance on fighting them. _"I got to fight them off! I can't let them get to Aqua or the eggs. I gotta fight!"_ A Machoke broke through the Psychic I used to push them all back and charged right at me. I instead focused on the Machoke and grabbed him with my Psychic and pushed him far back until he hit his head against a tree at the edge of the forest. Then another Machoke quickly approached and used Low Kick, hitting me right in the face throwing me back into the sand.

I knelt down feeling new pain in my chest. Looking down I noticed a large line across my chest, an attack from the Lucario with a Metal Claw. I looked up to see Lucian walk up with a smug grin on his face preparing a move to finish me off.

"Yeesh! What the heck was Purrloin even thinking when she saw the likes of you coming into our gang? You are not strong and perfect like she annoyingly tells me everyday- I don't care!" Lucian looked back making sure Purrloin wouldn't see what he was about to do, thankfully for him a Machoke that fell in battle blocked the view for her. Lucian smiled, still keeping his back turned to me. A mistake he would soon learn. "I'll just use my time to kill you right now and blame it on one of the weaklings here. Hah! Then I'll win Purrloin's affection by comforting her-" With my scalchop I used Razor Shell stabbing him in his chest. I stood up and pulled the Razor Shell out of him before moving on.

Lucian fell on his side, his paws pressed against the fatal wound mouth agape. "W-what, I…." Lucian's death was quick. His energy restored my lost energy healing my wounds quickly. But it had to be done. I didn't want this to happen; I didn't want anyone to die. But with my ability when fighting Pokemon, it'll be a fight to the death for them at least.

"Hey! Lucian's been killed!" I heard one of the Growlithe's after they noticed him lying dead on the sand.

"Good riddance! He was annoying to be around!" A Machoke grunted before readying another Low Kick. But before I could prepare for it, an Aura Sphere from a nearby Lucario attacked me sending me flying head first into a tree at the edge of the forest.

I opened my eyes to see the Growlithe's charging at me. Lucian's energy had only just reached me before they began to charge, but not fast enough to give me back my lost strength. Before I could try and defend myself, a sudden huge torrent of water washed the four Growlithe's back. "Zack!" I looked up to see Aqua standing beside me offering me her paw. At first I was confused as to how she was standing there, but then I realized she must've got out of the cave after I hit my head against the tree. I took her paw as she applied some Potion to me before facing the Pokemon charging at us. "Don't worry about the eggs; they're hidden in the cave. I had a vision before the fight begun. I was out here helping you battle. The eggs will be fine, they won't find them. But you need help here, you are underwhelmed. If you are defeated then I'll be left alone to fend for myself. So we got to stick together and face them."

"Aqua…" I wanted to say something to convince her to go back to the cave and stay there away from the fighting. But due to the low strength I had remaining and the vision Aqua saw about the eggs being safe, the overwhelming enemies I was faced with, I reconsidered. "Okay, but stay close." Aqua and I moved in to the crowd, and they once more surrounded us. Aqua stayed behind me watching my back and I watching hers watching and waiting for the first Pokemon to strike.

A Lucario struck first with Metal Claw at me, and then the last of the two Growlithe's attacked with a Fire Fang at Aqua. Aqua used Double Team immediately creating many illusions of her moving in to attack the two Growlithe's while I countered the Metal Claw with a Protect watching the Metal Claw bounce off the move before attacking with a Razor Shell throwing it back into the crowd. Aqua used another Surf beside me as a Machoke was about to sneak attack me with another Low Kick. I noticed a Lucario move in behind Aqua to attack with a Metal Claw, but to my surprise she evaded the attack and grabbed her scalchop and used Razor Shell defeating him. I have to admit, but Aqua's visions really do come in handy. I had hoped it would be enough to keep her safe while battling the remainder of Purrloin's gang.

"T-they're unstoppable!" A Machoke uttered as he backed off away from us along with many others besides on Machoke still fighting us. It was only until I grabbed the Machoke fighting us with Psychic and threw him over the scared Pokemon hitting him against a tree. He was still alive, but cowering just like the others. "Who is using the Psychic? Dewott's are not Psychic, so where is it coming from?" I noticed Leo as he watched me use Psychic with awe; he obviously noticed form before how Aqua perfectly dodged the attacks from the Lucario without looking.

"You fools! Don't just stand there, fight them!" Purrloin spat as she ordered her gang, her fangs just barely visible as she glared at them. "It's eight of you against two of them! So get back in there and fight them you cowards!" No matter what she said, it didn't give them any courage to resume the fighting, so instead they all ran from the beach and into the forest leaving Purrloin and Leo alone with us. "Come back you fools!" Purrloin growled, tightening her paws as blood trickled from them after digging her claws into her for how angry she was. "After I am done here, I will come after you all and slice your necks open!"

Leo smirked and walked towards the cave stepping over the bodies that remained of the battle calmly. I was about to run after him but Aqua held me back. "No Zack, he's mine."

"Aqua, are you sure?" She looked at me and nodded.

"I can handle him. You focus on Purrloin. I'll join you when I can." Aqua said before running so she was in between Leo and the cave, holding out her scalchop with Razor Shell active pointing at his chest.

* * *

****

**Aqua's POV**

Standing in front of me was a man I first feared thinking he was only a nightmare from a dream I had as a young Oshawott. But as I got older I realized that man I saw wasn't from a nightmare, but he was real. He kidnapped me and my parents, experimented on me day and night and all of those Pokemon he took from their homes killing many without remorse, only sighing as 'the failures' had died before moving on to the next with worse experiments than the last. I remembered the screams the most, how I woke up most nights hearing them in my dreams. I stood there looking up at the man unafraid of him as he smiled at me. I wasn't going to let him take me back to his laboratory again or let him go near my children. Then from out of nowhere, I had another vision…

"So it is you who escaped me all of those years ago. The ribbon was the giveaway" He pointed at my ribbon on top of my head. "A shiny Oshawott you once were, now a Dewott wearing the same ribbon as you were back then. But are you really the same Pokemon I remembered from the lab?" From his lab coat pocket, he pulled out a grenade and grabbed the pin with his other hand. "Let's find out, shall we?"

He pulled the pin from a grenade he was holding and tossed it in front of me, but I didn't move or looked at it. It was a fake one. If my vision hadn't showed me that, I would quickly jumped back away from it before it exploded. But me standing where I was only seemed to have made Leo's smile widen. "So you do have visions. Hmm… that would explain how you evaded that gunshot that would've ended your life when you and your parents escaped from my laboratory. I saw it, the gun aimed at your head by one soldier, it would've killed you if you hadn't of dodged it before he fired it. I replayed the tape the camera outside took that day over and over again thinking at first it was a very, very lucky dodge, but you didn't evade it by randomly stepping to the side or stumbling back, you reacted by moving your head to the side a little before the bullet fired."

"If that grenade was real, you would've evaded it before it blew up, but you stayed knowing this grenade was fake." Leo crossed his arms as he chuckled. "Then you and Zack Raines got together and became friends at first, and now he is your mate. The two of you having children, my experiment with an ability to see the future to avoid death or unpleasant things together with Zack Raines, a member of the Savior's turned Pokemon with the help from the Doom project. A serum injected into their bodies transforms them into Pokemon of different color and new abilities from which has never been seen before. You do realize he was once a human? That is disgusting…" he shuddered, glancing over his shoulder at Zack before he fought against Purrloin. "Makes me want to throw up. But I suppose when a member of the Team Doom Eight ever has children with another, it is interesting to see what they come out as. You, Zack, your children in there would serve a great purpose to the boss. I would see to it she would allow you to join our newest team we are creating. Please, think this over. Your children will live; you will be able to see them as with Zack. Doing so now will result in no one getting hurt later. You have my word. So put down the shell thing and let me take you, your children and Zack away from here to your new homes." Leo took a step forward; he stopped when I said to him, knowing he will not understand what I was saying.

"I don't care what Zack was before I met him. Zack and I… we have done so much together, travelled all over this region facing many dangers. He was always there for me as I have been there for him. I don't care about your boss or want them anywhere near her. I love him, and we will not allow you to harm our children or let you take them or us with you!"

Leo stood there in front of me for a moment, before his smile returned. "I'm sure you had much to say about that. But I can still see that you are willing to defend your children thus meaning you have resisted on surrendering to me." From the same pocket he pulled out a stick with a red button in the middle. After he pressed it, the stick doubled in length as a burst of electricity surged at the tip. "This here is a special baton you see. The material used to design this baton is resistant to many elements making this the best weapon to use to stop aggressive Pokemon or the occasional protester. The electricity at the end won't kill you if you touch it, but it will be enough to pacify you long enough for me to trap you, your children and Zack in one of my special Pokeball's so I can safely deliver you all to Shiny Latias, and thus Unova will belong to us like our founding father Juro once said it would." Leo took a step forward as he thrusted his baton at me, but I hit it away with my attack.

Leo swiped at me with the baton attempting to hit my face, but I deflected the blow. He stepped forward and struck again aiming for my legs this time. I was able to deflect most of them, but I got hit by his baton, luckily not anywhere near the electrical surge from the tip. "You're a good fighter I must say. Either from your visions helping you out warning you of every potential danger, or either Zack here taught you well. Purrloin from Shiny Latias' translations told me all about you and Zack's training while living at their hideout. Either way, you would make a most excellent addition to the team, once Shiny Latias has control over you." I used Razor Shell to attack at his legs, successfully hit him but not enough to take him down as he jumped back.

"_Shiny Latias… Zack told me about her before. Translating? Does this Latias know how to speak human language?" _I thought before Leo stepped forward and struck again, deflecting again almost each attack, getting struck in the arm and side with the side of the baton. About to strike again from above, I saw an opening as I rolled out of the way through his open legs, and then immediately used Double Team as he turned around, slashing at each illusion of me. It was then I decided to end this, using Razor Shell across his chest. Because with the multiple illusions of me still there, he had difficulty telling which one it was that was about to attack him, swiping and attempting to block the attack, but he couldn't.

After the attack, all of the illusions of me disappeared and Leo fell back onto the sand. I turned back to see Leo bleeding from his chest. I had cut him deeply, I knew it was a fatal wound, I knew he was going to die… but I didn't know how to feel though. I had hated this man for what he had done to me and my parents all those years ago. Part of me was happy he was dying, knowing he would never harm another Pokemon again or Zack and the children, but another part of me I was angry and disappointed with this outcome, wanting him to suffer as much as all of those Pokemon he had killed in the lab, perhaps more. _"Mother, father, how should I feel at this?" _I thought to myself, looking up at the stars. _"I thought I would be happy, but I also feel angry wanting him to suffer more for all he has done."_ I then looked at the cave, knowing our children were still safe, Zack was still in one piece, still fighting Purrloin. _"I just got to move on. Move on with my family knowing we will be safer now."_

Before I left Leo to join Zack on the fight he was having with Purrloin, Leo's gasped as he clutched at his chest. "Oh… ohh… t-this isn't good." He coughed. "And… I was so c-close… the reward would've been great." Leo turned his head to face the cave, were he said his final words before death. "Children… born from a-a Team Doom Pokemon and a *cough* Dewott that can… f-foresee the future….. w-what abilities those valuable children could have… now I… I will never get that… chance… oh…"

* * *

While Aqua fought I couldn't help but worry about her during her fight with Leo, using some kind of baton to attack her with. But right now I had to focus on the battle with Purrloin, all I needed to do was to defeat her and she would never hunt for us again. This was our only way for us to be free, I had to do this.

"This really is a shame, Zack. You on one side and me on the other… as foes. But once I have defeated you and freed you of her mind control…" she said pointing at Aqua. "You and I will finally be one. We will start up a new gang, one that doesn't flee out of fear. They saw you fight, they saw how strong you were when you took down each Pokemon that came your way…" Purrloin glanced over at Lucian's corpse slightly covered in sand. "And how you managed to kill Lucian. He really was a pathetic Pokemon thinking he ever had a chance with me. I was just using him, a simple pawn thinking he has any value to my gang. He was a fool for facing you in battle, met his demise and thus proving that you are indeed strong like I know you are." She held up her paw at me. "Please Zack, come home with me and let's start anew, away from the corrupted Dewott who has taken hold of you. Ever since I first met you and that Dewott, I knew she would corrupt you, I tried to save you earlier but unfortunately I was too late to do so."

"Aqua isn't corrupting anyone."

"Then… why are you killing your family?" She asked, gesturing to the Pokemon left dead on the beach. "All we ever wanted was to take you back home with us, not kill you. And yet… here you are having killed nearly all of them, the same Pokemon who gave you food, provisions, treated you like a hero after you helped us with our supplies. Like you belong with us."

"I had no choice. I had to protect Aqua and our children." I looked down at them. "My ability does this. My ability kills any Pokemon I defeat in battle. Their energy is absorbed into me, making me stronger but kills them in the process. I wanted to leave that place so I can return to my home, my true home where all of my friends and family are waiting for me to return. I wanted to leave without causing any problems. Purrloin, I don't belong with you or with your gang. Aqua and I love each other; we have children and want to go home together. Years before, I wanted to give up on this life, risking my life daily, helping people and Pokemon. I wanted to give it up for a chance at a peaceful life and settle down with a family. I don't want to fight you or anyone else. So please, let me return home."

Purrloin sighed before she prepared Shadow Claw with one of her paws. Looking up at me with a sad expression as she began tearing up. "Oh my sweet Zack, the Dewott really has corrupted you so badly. But don't worry, once I have defeated you, I will help you come back to your true self. My love, I will save you from the bitch. Please forgive me for what I am about to do. But it is for your own good!" She yelled, charging right at me. Using Razor Shell before she approached, our moves collided with each others. I narrowed my eye glaring at her as she with a sad expression that quickly turned into a sadistic smile before flipping herself back after the attack. "Ooh, this will be fun."

The first thing she used was a move called Charm hitting me, but it didn't do any damage, instead lowered my attack before she came at me with Fury Swipes, and this move was a normal type, it wouldn't hurt as much if I were to be hit by it, but if she used a dark type move then I was in for a world of hurt. I was weakened in strength, but I had to put up with it for a while until it wore off. With her claws out she moved in very fast and swiped at me, dodging the first two out of the four attacks while she hit me with last. I used Scald hitting her successfully, flinching back from the move before using Fury Swipes again, but this time I dodged them by jumping back with each attack.

When the move had finished, I used Razor Shell slashing at his chest, a successful hit, would've done more damage if Charm wasn't in effect, but it'll do.

She suddenly moved in and grabbed my arms pushing me up against a large rock near the water. Attempting to break free from her hold, she yelled. "What is wrong with you!? I just want you and I to be happy together back home in the city where we belong. Where I know you will be happy instead of out here in the cold."

"I told you before; I am not going back with you!" I argued, feeling myself getting angrier. Then I heard the voices again in my head telling me to kill. I tried to shrug it off, trying to calm myself down before this uncontrollable rage took over me.

"Shiny Latias told me about that. About your eye" Purrloin smirked, her paws wrapping around my neck as he face inched closer making this really uncomfortable against the rock I was leaning against. "Your eye glows red as your anger rises. If your anger reaches a high level, you become uncontrollable, you go berserk, you desire to kill. Oh sweetie, don't you worry about a thing just relax. Once I have defeated you, Shiny Latias will control you to be free from the Dewott's corruption. And we will be one."

"Do you really think Shiny Latias will give you what you want? She doesn't care about you or anyone else. If you bring her to me, the only thing that you'll get is a quick death seeing there is no need of you anymore."

She laughed. "We'll see about that. So just give up and accept your fate. Even if it means I have to hurt you!" She yelled before using Shadow Claw scratching my left shoulder drawing a little blood.

I used Protect as she again attacked with another Fury Swipe, but she broke through it after the fourth hit. Then she stepped back and began charging up power in her right paw pulling it back. I didn't know what kind of move she was using, but I moved in anyway trying to deal as much as damage as I could while I can, using moves such as Scald and Razor Shell, each hit her but she didn't seem to flinch at any of them. Then after her charge up, she unleashed her charged attack; Sucker Punch right into my chin as I was sent flying back into the sand.

The move hurt badly as I found it troubling to stand back up before Purrloin assaulted me again with Fury Swipes cutting into me. The only way I managed to get her off of me was by using Razor Shell, cutting across her cheek. Growling, she used Shadow Claw attacking at my chest, almost cutting up my neck a few times. I could see it in her eyes, she was furious; I didn't know how to stop this fighting without the other dying. I tried reaching out to her, but she wouldn't listen.

Then she began crying, looking down briefly before she quickly moved in on me again, but somehow managed to get behind me and grab me in a chokehold.

"Y-you could've had so much with me…" she sobbed. "You could've had control over my gang with me, a happy future for the both of us… b-but the bitch has indoctrinated you so you only love her and create offspring, hurting me to the point I can see you can never come back to me… but don't worry, my love for you will be instead given to the child as I will raise it as my own." She chuckled, gripping my neck a little tighter. "Yes, we had a child together you and I. The father was you, the mother me. But the shiny Dewott killed you as she wanted you to herself… obsessive bitch! I killed her in retaliation in fear I would lose you… I did lose you to her. Now the children will be mine. But don't worry, I will raise them right!" She moved her Shadow Claw up to my neck, about to pierce it at any second now.

To my surprise she let go of me, I looked back preparing Razor Shell when I noticed Aqua standing behind Purrloin with a Razor Shell stabbed right through Purrloin's chest. Purrloin looked down at the Razor Shell through her chest before the move and her Shadow Claw faded, and she fell back into the sand.

"A-ah- this pain… this isn't what was supposed to… happen…" she coughed. Grasping the sand beneath her with one paw. Turning her head to the side to look at her fallen comrades, sighing. "This pain…its n-nothing compared t-to what you h-have d-d-done to me *cough* you bitch!" She spat out some blood from her mouth, and then she started chuckling. "But… I-I will have m-my revenge… m-my beloved…" She chuckled, spitting some blood at Aqua's feet. Weakly, she lifted up her paw as she pointed at me. "S-shiny Latias will come f-for you. She'll kill your precious bitch Dewott… your children… and then you after she has w-what she wants. Then in the after world, you and I will finally… be together forever….." Her paw fell beside her as she looked up at the stars and then silence. She was gone. Looking over at the cave entrance, I saw Leo's body lying on the ground, and then all around the beach for any signs of threat, we were in the clear. It was over.

"Zack… are you okay?" Aqua said as she walked up to me covering her wound on her arm. I applied some potion on her wound before nodding my head.

"Just beat up, but I'll live." We hugged, relived that the running away, all the hiding, and all of the fighting had finally come to an end with Purrloin. Sure Shiny Latias was still out there, but that could wait. I just wanted to return home, back to Nuvema Town where everyone was waiting for us. We returned to the cave to find the eggs still in one piece with hay piled on top, keeping them both warm and concealed should the enemy while fighting found them. The thought of them finding the eggs worried me, but they were safe.

Packing up our supplies, the map book, potions, berries, and filled water bottles in the bag, Aqua and I both carried an egg each as we set off for my home town.

When we did leave the cave, we were met with a beautiful sunrise just over the horizon. We both looked at each other and smiled, taking in the sights of the palce we once called home, and knowing we would be safe from Purrloin and her gang for good.

* * *

****

**Nuvema Town – A day later**

It really was a beautiful day when we emerged from Route 01 and finally entered Nuvema Town; we finally arrived at our destination after a day of a peaceful walk together. We stood on the steps at the town exit looking down at the town, tall trees growing alongside the many bricked houses with red tiled roofs, where most of the stores and cafes were in this town, and just beyond that was the residential area, my home. I couldn't see it from there, but knowing I had finally made it back home was good enough for me. But home wasn't our destination just yet, we need to get to the lab, get in touch with my friends and The Savior's by the phone. I needed an update on what exactly happened with Shiny Latias and the outcome of the battle.

After a few minutes we finally reached the lab. A building with many large windows up front, some with posters on the three starters of the region stuck on, information posters on how to become a trainer and the benefits of becoming one. Just beyond the lab was the garden where many Pokemon belonging to different trainers got some fresh air, played outside and relaxed.

After opening the front doors, we walked up to the front desk, standing once before where waited for the starters to be brought out by the professor before choosing Oshawott as my partner. It didn't take long when Professor Juniper to notice us from the desk, squinting her eyes at first at me before standing up with a gasp, walking from behind the desk with a smile.

"Zack! Is that you?" She knelt down in front of me. She was still wearing the same outfit from the moment we first met all those years ago, a long lab coat, white shirt, green skirt, red and white shoes, and she still kept her hair up like that. I'm not complaining, but I was happy to see things remained the same after all this time.

"Hi professor, long time no see."

"I heard about the battle, oh my… we going to need to give you a check up." I nodded. With all of these injuries I had, those Aqua's potions couldn't cure, like my eye and most of my injuries opening up every now and again, it would be nice to be fully treated. "Zack, I…" her smile suddenly faltered. "I'm so glad to see you again, really I am… but… I think you need to talk with your Pokemon, they'll tell you what has happened." I was confused at that, and then fear hit me thinking something terrible has happened to our friends and family, so we quickly followed Juniper out into the garden.

In the garden, Juniper walked told us to wait by the entrance while she gathered the others. But immediately after entering, the first Pokemon I saw was Gardevoir besides the door reading from a dictionary. It took her a moment before she looked up and noticed me, throwing her dictionary down on the grass before coming at me and hugging. "Oh my gosh! Zack! You're back!" She squealed, wrapping her arms around my head and almost stabbing my face with her chest thing. Aqua had taken a step back and set the egg she was carrying and mine on the grass. A good thing too because Gardevoir picked me up all of sudden and hugged me tighter, again almost stabbing me with her chest thing. "Espeon told me all about how she contacted you. I was beginning to believe she was crazy, talking to you through dreams… I mean, that really does sound crazy. Like she was making it all up to help soothe with our loss of our most favorite of trainers!"

"I missed you too, Gardevoir." I said before I was finally put back down on the grass, but I wouldn't standing for too long when I noticed on top of a small hill where I saw several Pokemon run at me, Pokemon I knew well; up front was Espeon, followed by Totodile, Bayleef, with Golurk behind them but keeping up with them almost making me worry that Golurk could trip and fall right on me or them, and flying above them was Lugia landing first down beside me and picked me up and pulling me in for a tight hug, tighter than Gardevoir's before the others jumped up and crushed me, crying out how much they missed me.

"Zack, welcome home my friend!" Totodile cried.

"We missed you sooooooo much!" Bayleef smiled, wrapping her vines around my tail.

"Mr Zack, we never gave up hope. It is good to see you are back home." Golurk patted my head with its large hand, ruffling up my fur.

"Nice work Zackary." Espeon hugged me, wrapping her forelegs around me. "You pulled it off and made it home safe and sound. See Gardevoir, I wasn't crazy after all."

"Well… it did sound strange saying you talked to Zack in your dreams." Gardevoir lightly scratched her arm. "But to be honest, it did make you sound like you were going crazy…"

"Says the Gardevoir who loves to read the dictionary over and over again. Like, who does that?" Espeon said to herself quietly, but enough for me to hear. Then she stepped to the side and noticed Aqua with the eggs. "Who is this cutie?"

I turned and walked to Aqua, a little nervous about telling them that me and Aqua were a couple and we had children. I planned my speech over and over again in my head before arriving here, but what I had planned seem to have slipped from my mind and left me awkwardly standing there unsure what to tell them.

"My name is Aqua." Aqua spoke up. The Pokemon all surrounding us to get a closer look at her. "It's um; it's nice to meet you all. Zack has told me so much about you." She began to grow a little nervous, so I held her paw and stood together as the Pokemon then immediately noticed the eggs, so that would be the next thing to bring up. It wasn't easy, but I suppose we just went with what we could give them.

I told them all about when I first washed up on the shore of Castelia City with no memory except my name, taken in by Purrloin and her gang, meeting Aqua, our time staying there. Aqua and I both told the Pokemon how we travelled all over the region to get back home after I remembered something about the village, and I also told them about how Aqua and I both felt something between us, and before arriving, before my memory came back to me we fell in love and became a couple, having children. Then the fight we had with Purrloin down by the beach near Accumula.

"I didn't know I had anyone back home waiting for me…" I said shyly, feeling the tension in my chest, my eye almost refusing to look at them as they sat there looking back at me, perhaps with disgust or anger. ""

"I see…" Gardevoir spoke up first, glancing at the others before facing me again. "If you didn't do it on purpose, then I uh… I suppose that's fine- I mean not 'fine' but uh… hmm…"

"I think what Gardevoir here is trying to say is that this is all new to us; you with your memory loss, you and Aqua here as a couple, coming back with two eggs. It is surprising, but you didn't know." Totodile said. "If you did know, then you'd be cheating on Latias… but, I guess it'll take some time getting used to."

"Espeon, when you spoke with Zack in the dreams, did you ever mention Latias?" Bayleef asked her, shaking her head immediately.

"No… I thought mentioning to Zackary about Latias was going to be bad. Telling him what happened after the battle in his state might've been terrible." Her ears drooped, and then almost all of the Pokemon seem to be saddened at that, whenever they mentioned Latias. "I wanted to wait until Zackary either regained his memory back, or when he would come back so I could tell him. But talking to Zackary through the dreams really does take a lot out of you. If I had known this would happen, I would have to risk telling him about Latias at the cost of Zackary's mind going all haywire or staying quiet about it."

I was about to ask about Latias, but then I noticed Dewott wasn't here. So asked. "Where's Dewott?" I asked, searching for any of him nearby, near the lake, near the tree in the garden all of us liked to hang out near, but I couldn't see him anywhere.

"Eh, that moron? Probably with his mate and children in the garden somewhere. Man, you should've heard the things he was saying about you after the battle we had over at Team Doom HQ in the previous story. He was saying; 'I'm glad he's dead. He deserved it for putting himself and Latias in danger.' before I gave him a black eye." Espeon scoffed. "He then went on to say 'We were better off not knowing him for all the danger he has put us through all these years. How come you all don't realize this?' And again I head butted him for saying those things."

"They really were terrible things to say." Gardevoir said after picking up her dictionary and held it close to her chest. "More I don't want to hear again for how awful they are. I thought he was your friend. But what he said wasn't true about you."

I wanted to talk to Dewott about this, but then I thought to when Epseon told me I had put Latias in danger. I didn't see her anywhere and I had to ask, thinking she was in the garden somewhere or back home. "Where's Latias?"

The smiles fell from everyone, Golurk looked at Lugia, Lugia then looked at Totodile and Bayleef as they looked at Espeon. Her ears drooped as she stepped towards me. "Zackary… I… " She looked back at the others before sitting down in front of me. Placing a paw on my shoulder.

"Zackary, I hate to be bearer of bad news, but… it's about Latias." Espeon paused; glancing back at the others as they sadly listened in. I began to tense up from the pause, fearing the next words that would come out of her mouth, 'She was dead. After you showed up and rested up for a while, we received news that Latias was dead.' That's what I expected, but not this. "Before the battle with Team Doom last year, Latias told me something. Zack, Latias was pregnant. We don't know what happened to the child… or if the child is with… them or….." Espeon's hung her head, while I was left speechless.

"Pregnant?" I asked myself. "I didn't know… how come she didn't tell me? "Do you know where she is then? Then if so please tell me."

But they didn't. "After the battle, after Shiny Latias erased your memory, cut you up like you are now, Latias fought against her sister to save you… then you fell off the building landing into the river below." Espeon turned away from me. "Shiny Latias controlled her to attack everyone, killing many forcing us to escape…"

"Your sister Yuri, your father Henry, and Reiko, the girl from the Savior's you worked with…" Gardevoir spoke up silently at first but raised her voice so everyone could hear her. "After we got back, we found out they were all gone, taken by Shiny Latias… I'm sorry; we don't know what happened to them. Ever since Espeon first got in contact with you, we have been waiting here, waiting for you."

"Zackary, Lee from the Savior's told me two days ago that he was coming here tomorrow. He should be able to give you updates about Shiny Latias. His small team are searching for them even as we speak."

"Thank you, everyone." This wasn't what I wanted to come back to. I wanted for everything to be back to normal again, friends and family all together, and the fighting on hold for a long time until I was fully rested. But now, it looked like there was still fighting left to do.

* * *

****

**Zack's Home – The next day**

Sitting on the couch next to Aqua on my right and Espeon on my left, opposite us was Lee, a man from The Savior's and friend I have known since I first joined. He wore a stained vest be dubbed his 'lucky' vest for some reason I never got around to asking, cargo shorts and sandals, his usual attire. He had tanned skin, spiky black hair, stubble and showing a little bit of weight around his belly since all he did at the job was sit down and talk to other Savior agents all day telling them important information about certain Pokemon they were dealing with. Everyone gave him the nickname of; The Human Pokedex since his knowledge was that of a Pokemon. Just give him a number from the Pokedex and he'll tell you the Pokemon, the regions they can be found in, move sets, everything.

"It really is great to see you are still alive and back home safely. I'm sure Espeon told you why I am here, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, that you may have something about Shiny Latias or those that are missing?"

"We haven't been able to locate them…" he sighed. "For almost a year we have been searching nonstop. We lost half of our crew in the past year doing so. Most have quit, chose to leave the team after… after what Shiny Latias did to those we couldn't save. What she did… geez, I could barely recognize 'em." He shook his head, resting his arm on the armrest of the couch. "But what we do know is that Shiny Latias is starting up an army, a really large one from what intel has shown us. I believe Shiny Latias is about to make her move on the region very soon. People are scared man, I never seen anything like it. Heck, not even when Juro was around did anything like this ever happen."

"They started up somewhere in Castelia City spreading slowly in different locations. The bitch works fast given that her ability allows anyone to ever look her in the eye complete control over you." Espeon said turning on the TV with her Psychic, showing a report on attacks in different parts of the region, mostly from armored soldiers in black. I had seen them before, when me and Aqua were about to escape Castelia City from Purrloin's hideout. "But, Lee isn't here to give us an update on the situation with the Shiny Bitch."

All of us looked at Lee as he sat up in his seat. "I have come to take you and your Pokemon somewhere safe. A place all of us can lay low for a while, and maybe come up with a plan."

"But the others!" I said, jumping up off the couch. "We can't just go into hiding. We gotta find them. Henry, Yuri, Reiko, and Latias. They need our help."

Lee shook his head. "I'm sorry kid. But what we are dealing with, we will need a team on our side. Especially a large one to handle all of Shiny Latias' group, and a good plan. The thing is, we don't know where to look for Shiny Latias or where exactly it is she has taken them. The men I have out there, to tell you the truth I really don't know how long it'll take. I'm sorry, kid, wish I could do more." He sighed before standing up. "I'll be back in two days to pick ya'll up. But don't worry, we will find 'em, I'll just take time. I know it's not what ya want to hear, but if we rush in this now, who knows what'll happen. Could very well lose more than we had going in. I'll uh, leave ya be for now. Rest, you deserve it after what ya been through."

With Lee gone, it was just us three left in the living room of the house in silence. Latias pregnant, her, Henry, Yuri, and Reiko all taken away by Shiny Latias, and her rising army slowly on the verge of taking over the region. I didn't want to just stay in hiding knowing they needed us.

"Zackary, I'm going to give Lisa Lisa (Lisa) and Bent (Brent) a call down at the lab. Let them both know what's up. I'm going to give you and Aqua some room." Espeon got up from the couch. "So you two can rest up for the night. Relax, chill, and we'll talk about this in the morning. Goodnight Zackary and Aqua."

The days were I should be resting didn't go by so well, I was up most nights, finding difficulty sleeping knowing they were still out there. I spent those nights awake pacing up and down the corridor upstairs and then through the house downstairs, glancing at photo's of my mom, my sister Yuri, my dad Henry, and Latias.

Tomorrow Lee would arrive and take us all somewhere else, somewhere safe for us. But I couldn't go with them. I had to find them, but I had to do so alone. Ever since I brought people and Pokemon with me, got them involved, they have gotten hurt, killed and now kidnapped. If it was by myself, I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else while out there on the road. I didn't want anyone else to die, so this was the best option.

Aqua was in my bed still sleeping soundly. The eggs were left in the laboratory to be checked up while we rested after the long journey. I pulled up the covers for Aqua, kissing her on the cheek before leaving. I wish I didn't have to leave, but I can't stay in hiding knowing the others were still out there. So I left the room and made my way downstairs and into the living room.

Putting on the bag, I filled it up with rations; food, medical, and my Savior's device, something all agents are given used notice when a new mission is underway. Receiving messages, a map of the region. A year ago, Shiny Latias killed many members of The Savior's, the rest went into hiding. As of then, I was the last member of The Savior's left active in the region. Sure it would attract the attention of Shiny Latias, but I wanted that, I wanted to find her, and also it was still good to get some money. I didn't know how long all of this would last for.

Everything was done, but I wanted to write Aqua a letter before leaving, but I didn't have to when I noticed Aqua standing by the front door with her paws behind her back. "Aqua, did I wake you up?" I walked up to her.

She shook her head. "No. My vision warned me that you were leaving. And here I thought my visions warned me of life endangering things." She chuckled. "Are you leaving?"

"I… yes. I'm sorry, but I can't stay. The others are still out there. And I can't help but worry about them. If I bring others with me, I would only be putting them at risk, and I can't do that, not again. But I know I should be there for you and the children, but… I… I'm sorry. I can't leave them out there…"

"It's cold out there… so here, you'll need this." Aqua said, revealing what was behind her back was a black cloak. "I understand how important they are to you. I wish you didn't have to go." I put the cloak on. It was really warm and comfy to wear, just long enough covering up most of my back and down the waist, but also covering up my mouth. Attempting to move this proved futile since it ended up back covering my mouth, so I just let it be. Aqua smiled softly before moving in to hug me, and I hugged her back. "Just promise me you'll come back safely."

I kissed her forehead. "I will. I promise. And once I do get back, we'll all share some ice cream together." I tried to make light of the conversation, she lightly chuckled and nodded her head, a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Please be safe… please…"

* * *

The walk back to the town exit was a short one. Already a few days here and I never got that much needed rest I wanted. I didn't want to be walking up this way for some time, month possibly if everyone was alright and back home, but I had to. The cloak Aqua gave to me was providing me with some much needed warmth as I felt the cold creep in. Winter was already here. I would stay at hotels and help others through missions, earning some money now and again to keep me going.

By the time I arrived, I stood at the town exit and looked back at my home town like I did the very first time I left to join the Savior's many years ago. I stood here looking back with Oshawott and Latias with hope that I would come back as a rank 01 of the Savior's, as a success and hero. But now I stood alone, wanting to be alone especially with the fears of losing friends and family again repeating over and over again in my mind if I allowed them to go with me, with one less eye, scars all over my body, looking back at the town not knowing if I would ever see it again or my friends and family. I didn't know how long this search would take, but I wouldn't stop searching for them, I wouldn't stop searching for Shiny Latias and defeating her once and for all.

To end in... Pokemon Dreams 05 – Eternity

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

The final chapter ended so much differently than originally planned; for starters, Zack Raines was going to pass out from the attack and would end up waking up later in recovery, then told about Latias from Espeon before closing the chapter and the story. Leo however never died and instead didn't show up for the battle. 

**AN: And there you have it, the final chapter of the main story. The next 5 chapters I will upload the coming week will be extra chapters that happened either before, during and after the main story focusing on other characters or Zack and Aqua doing other activities that didn't progress the story, meaning they are filler chapters. The next story will be sometime later this year so keep an eye out for that if you want more, if not well thanks for passing by. Thank you for reading and uh… until next time.**


	41. Side Story 01 Celebration

**AN: Side stories are a set of 5 short stories that happen before, during, or after the main story based around either the main characters or characters that were cut from the main story (also known as filler chapters. I try not to do too much in the main story). Story 5 is in the works, but until then please sit relax back and enjoy the side stories.**

Side Story 01/05 - Celebration

* * *

**Floccesy Town**

A once grassy meadow now a town populated by Pokemon and people living together peacefully. It was one of the many towns we visited that didn't allow Pokemon to be captured within, so we could catch our breath while here without having to worry about trainers capturing Aqua and I.

We took a wrong turn while leaving Driftveil City… one leading us southwest of the region when we wanted to head north towards Mistralton. A big mistake when we should've checked our map book for directions. But this wrong turn wasn't exactly something we didn't mind all that much because of how beautiful and peaceful this town felt to us. Upon entering the town, we noticed a lot of People and Pokemon were gathering near the tall clock town in the center of town. A large tower with many vines growing around the base with the face of the clock missing the hands. It was really old, but it did seem to hold a lot of significance to the townsfolk since many of them had clock tower shirts and merchandise; some were even taking photos of the clock.

Before either one of us could talk to each other, we noticed a female Oshawott coming to a stop right in front of us after she ran through the crowd, greeting us with a happy smile. "Welcome to Floccesy Town! I am one of seven who offer assistance to all new Pokemon who enter our town during the great time of celebration!" She cheered.

"Celebration?" I asked, taking another quick look around the town. I did see people set up some lights hanging on some buildings as well as ribbons. They were obviously setting up for something. "What is this celebration about? Everyone looks really busy. Must be something important going on."

"It is an important day. You see-" she happily chirped as he pointed towards the clock tower. "-they say over a hundred years ago, three legendaries were seen battling against each other right above the clock tower. The battle lasted for many days and nights, but something happened that stopped the Pokemon from fighting. The people who recorded the details of the battle said the sky cleared up all of a sudden, revealing the bright stars and moon shinning down from above. The Pokemon flew down to the humans and Pokemon and apologized and helped them rebuild the town after the damages they had done. Since that battle, we gather around the clock tower like the people and Pokemon did when the battle took place ending in peace." We followed her around the center of the town as she showed us the stalls and merchandise the humans could purchase, even showing us were the food was, again had to be purchased first before you could take, so there were no freebies. "The celebrations starts with fireworks representing the start of the battle, most featuring the three legendaries that attacked the town many years ago. And then stops signalling the end were all can get a view of the bright stars and the moonlight. I have seen the celebration many times and each time is unlike the others. So you two should check it out while you are here. The humans do give out some food for us Pokemon who come to see it. So you both should check it out."

Aqua and I looked at each other. "So what do you think? Free food and to see a fireworks display? And it is getting late, so after the celebration we could find a place to sleep and head out early tomorrow." I said, finding myself a little weak since the antidote was a little to cure the Poison I was infected with by the Beedrill before.

Aqua smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'd love to see the celebration. We could use a break. We do have a long road back to Driftveil City, so it's best if we stay and rest up for tomorrow."

"That's great. I hope you enjoy your stay in town. Oh, more Pokemon!" We saw some Pokemon enter the town along with their trainers. "Sorry but I have work to do. Please enjoy the celebration. And don't worry about any trainer from trying to catch you. This town has a rule against it. So relax and once again, enjoy your stay." The Oshawott smiled at us before she skipped happily towards more Pokemon who had just entered the town greeting them as she did with us.

Aqua held my paw as we walked through the town square, cautiously since neither of us was fully at ease just being out here in the open given how many trainers were looking at us, some with their hands on their belts or very close to a Pokeball. We weren't sure if this rule about trainers forbidden to catch Pokemon was known to all trainers upon entering the town, I don't think we ever did let our guards down once while we were here. It was a shame though; we were both feeling tense during our stay here thinking a trainer would come after us. I would've liked to have felt at ease and relaxed, possibly would've made this stay at least bearable, especially with the celebration and fireworks later that day.

There wasn't much to do until the celebration began so we just waited for it to begin, finding a palce at the park a little away from the clock tower to get a view of the fireworks. After grabbing some pokeblocks and some juice, we sat on the grass away from the people and Pokemon watching as the show began by the town edge beside the forest surrounding the town. Call it a backup should a trainer or two decide on not listening to the rules of the no catching Pokemon and feels free to try and catch us.

The fireworks started, exploding into circle shaped patterns one after the other, then shifted to red stars, and green squares. The three fireworks were fired and exploded into the shape of three Pokemon; Reshiram, Zecrom, and Arceus. Then followed by more fireworks, clashing with another, mixing colors and creating patterns and shapes, all showing the three Pokemon fighting with their moves both beautiful and destructive. The people and Pokemon who had seen the battle take place all those years ago tried to calm them down for they had destroyed many buildings and almost the beautiful landscape around them. Only by the end of the fighting did the three Pokemon realize the damages they had done and settled aside their differences for peace and to rebuild all they had destroyed. The clock tower remained as it was, destroyed still standing tall over the town.

I wasn't sure what the actual battle was like or how destructive it really was, the reason for their quarrel. But the fireworks to me and Aqua felt as though we were all watching a memory from long ago played out above us.

The fireworks stopped, and the sky cleared as the heavy smoke drifted with the wind showing all the stars and the moon above shining its radiant light above for those below to see like all of those who did all of those years before.

"That was nice, I really liked it." Aqua smiled. "I wasn't expecting the fireworks of the three Pokemon to show them fighting; different forms they took, the battle stances, using moves. I was expecting a lot of different patterns and loud explosions, but not this."

"Maybe there was some kind of interpretation to it; maybe after the fireworks had ended, all that was left was smoke. So the smoke was meant to represent the damage left from the battle. But with the wind blowing it away left uh… the beauty of the world showing the stars and moon, or something…" I was trying to figure out the story of that. I enjoyed the show, even if it was a short one.

"Well, the Oshawott did say the three Pokemon were peaceful after the battle and helped the town rebuild the beautiful town it had been, still is I mean."She sighed as she leaned her back against the tree. "You want to come here again next year to see it again?"

I looked back at her and smiled, sitting back against the same tree with her, both looking up at the night sky. "Yeah. And I hope next time we can actually enjoy ourselves without worrying about anyone trying to catch us."

So that night we continued watching the night sky for an hour longer before finding a place for us to spend the night so we could continue our long journey.

'Next year' she said… but because of my search for my friends began after we returned to Nuvema Town. Our return to this town would have to be postponed for a long time, but I knew that one day all of us could return there to the town having fun, watching the fireworks, and relaxing together. But it was a long wait.

End of Side Story 01/05

* * *

**Trivia:**

Lisa Rivers, one of the main characters from Pokemon Dreams 02 Till the End of Time was originally set to appear within one of the side stories as a main character. But I decided to cut it so she could have her story told in the next story together with another main character of 02 Brent Jackson.


	42. Side Story 02 Alive

Side Story 02/05 – Alive

* * *

**Nuvema Town – Pokemon Laboratory Espeon's POV**

"Gardevoir, stop squirming and let the professor treat your wounds for crying out loud." I sighed, watching as Juniper attempted to heal Gardevoir's wounds on top of her head from the previous battle with Team Doom, a battle some of us barely got out of there alive. I'd say Lugia got the most injuries out of all of us due to being attacked by that Doom Soldier's shooting at it, but Lugia came out alive and well mostly recovering in the recovery room.

"Ouch, this is really hurts. Hurt is located in the 'H' section of a dictionary. It means to feel or suffer physical or mental pain or distress. I learnt all of that from my dictionary." She said rather proudly.

"Oh really? Wow, that really is fascinating. I never knew such words existed in a dictionary or never knew the meaning behind them(!)" I said sarcastically smiling while rolling my eyes. Gardevoir was a good friend to be around, but whenever she started talking about her dictionary or favorite words from it, it felt as though time itself slowed down, draining you of all fun and happiness from your body and soul. Similar to those skeletal robbed ghost things from that wizard boy movie… uh, Larry Cotter. Yeah, because that name is totally original and not based off anything from the real world, yo!

"And done." Juniper said after finally being able to apply the potion on Gardevoir's wounds after a tiresome hour or hearing Gardevoir cry and complaining about how the potion hurts… "Well, that's it for everyone of Zack's Pokemon. I'll go and get you and the others some food. "

"Thanks professor. Oh by the way, but have you seen Dewott lately?" I asked as I hopped off the bed Gardevoir was still sitting on as she began to read from her dictionary. I wanted to talk with him since we got back, even after hearing the terrible news that Zackary's sister Yuri and dad Henry plus Reiko were kidnapped days before we arrived in town. Also, I heard from Bayleef that Dewott said some mean things to Totodile when all he ever did was approach him, greeting him after a long journey. But the Dewott snapped at him, telling him to leave him alone before saying this and that. They're supposed friends, they had known each other for years. Not only that, but I also wanted to ask why he was being moody lately, even before Zackary and us set off to fight the shiny bitch he refused to go with us or help us in the fight saying he wanted to stay with his mate before their child hatched from the egg. I expected his mood to change between us leaving and us returning, but to hear him do something like this? Nope. I was just going to have to see for myself.

I was getting hungry, thinking I should at least grab something before heading out into the garden to face Dewott, but it was nagging me a while, it wouldn't stop no matter how much I tried to shrug it off leaving it for a little later.

* * *

**Laboratory Garden**

It didn't take long to find him; it was usually where he was with his family playing and eating berries from the lab near the forest section of the forest. It was a place flying types and the bugs liked to hang out. Not a place I went in much because the forest section was a little dark and kind of damp. Not seeing him and his family recently, I assumed they went in the forest to hide from us, sure did feel like they were hiding in there for how little I saw them.

I found Dewott sitting beside his family, his daughter Meowstic named Mist sitting beside her mother, and their egg being held close to Dewott's mate, a female Meowstic who is just called Meowstic. She is nice to talk to, I remember many times we spent together we had a lot of fun hanging out. But with Dewott's sudden mood shift has made hanging out with her or just being with her was kind of difficult, knowing a glaring Dewott was watching you close by all the time.

We were friends, Dewott and I, but recently… he's been kind of a huge dick.

"Sup, Dewy. Meowstic good to see you again cutie. And of course Mist, you're looking good, have you grown since we last saw each other?"

"Espeon!" Mist smiled as she got up and ran towards me wrapping her little arms around my foreleg. "I grew up a lot. See? See?" She chuckled, standing proud for growing up a lot between last we saw the other.

"Nice work. But are you sure you're not cheating? Not trying to look bigger by stepping on your toes?" She teased, looking down at her feet to see she wasn't. "Don't lie, because I am a member of the Savior's you know. We can tell when someone is lying."

"I'm not! See? See?" She took a step back, trying to show me that she wasn't standing on her toes.

"I can see that." I chuckled. "Soon you'll be as tall as me. Won't that be cool, huh?" She nodded her head, before the fun police walked up to us, lightly pushing Mist away.

"Mist, sit with your mother. Espeon and I need to have a quick word." Mist was about to protest but Dewott only growled and pulled her away so she'd sit with Meowstic before guiding me away from them. Obviously didn't want them to hear what he was about to say to me or something. "What do you want?" He snapped at me, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't hear.

"Well, hello to you too Dewott. I can see you haven't changed much since we last spoke." I said, trying to sound as calm as could when on the inside I was frustrated at the way he was talking to me like that, the way he glared at me almost with disgust, I would've Psychic thrown him into a tree or rock if he was someone else. But I kept my cool and remembered about Mist and Meowstic watching from afar. The last thing I wanted out of this is for this to escalate into a bloody fight.

"Well, what do you want?"

"What? Can't I talk to your mate and daughter? Am I forbidden to do so? It has been so long since I last saw them so I decide to say hello to them, let them know I am back in one piece."

"From Zack's suicide mission?" He scoffed. "Yeah, I heard about it. It really is a tragedy… Latias kidnapped by her sister. Who knows what she'll do to him. All thanks to Zack. Moron got himself killed in the process."

"What are you saying?" I asked, feeling my chest tighten at what he just said. I almost felt my anger about to unleash on his ass and give him a piece of my mind. "Zack is your friend. You two have been good friends since you first became his first Pokemon before starting off on the journey to become a Savior. What the heck happened to you Dewott?"

"I opened my eyes." He shrugged. "Over the years with each mission we ever went on, the dangers we faced, the enemies we have fought, and every time we finished one mission barely coming out of them alive we go back in ending up with many more injuries." He said showing me his scars on his upper arm.

"I know the job Zack has is a dangerous one. I'm not saying he is weak, but he wouldn't last long out there without us helping him out. But these missions we go on, we save people and Pokemon from the dangerous ones, to give them hope in this sometimes cruel world."

"The moron got Latias as got her killed. Shiny Latias will kill her all thanks to Zack."

"It wasn't his fault, bitch!" I growled. "In case you have forgotten, Zack's mom was killed by Shiny Latias right in front of him. What would you do if the shiny bitch killed your family the same way she did to Ayaka? If that happened instead of Zack's mom, he would no doubt join you on your quest to hunt down the shiny bitch to make her pay for what she did."

"Oh, and I'd bet you would join in with Zack if that happened. You always seem to be following everywhere he goes, s if you are worshipping the ground he walks on."

"What are you talking about? I don't worship anyone or anything." I almost laughed, not sure what he meant by that. "And Zack is my best friend, of course I'd be happy to join him."

"Oh please, we have all seen the way you have looked at him, it's like you are in love with him. Oh wait, I do remember when Zack and Latias revealed they were a couple, the look on your face when they told you was the look of heartbreak. Or if Zack really is alive and Latias has died, maybe the two of you can go find a place where you two can be happy away from us before you and him hurt us all or worse. Maybe the two of you should start a family together. Oh wait; you can't have kids, can you? Infertile, huh? Good, so you two don't produce any offspring that'll probably be like you two; stupid and lazy-" That was when I lost it. The Dewott standing there with a smug grin on his face wasn't the same Dewott I had considered my friend, so I just picked up the nearest rock I could find and hurled it fast at his eye smacking him with it. The rock had hit him, but I didn't wait before grabbing him with Psychic and pulling him up off the ground throwing him into a tree and pinning him before I ran up and held up my claws up to his neck. I don't know what I was doing, what I was going to gain from this.

His eye was swollen from when I hit him with the rock, I had hurt him. I only wanted him to stop saying these things and wanted him to be his normal self again. I suppose most arguments end like this sometimes. I still considered him a friend, but given how things have escalated, it might have made it impossible for us to be speaking to one another again as friends. So I let him go, walking away before Meowstic and Mist could arrive as I saw them running towards us. Before I did leave, I glanced back at him and said; "You were better than this, Dewott. I really did like you, you know. You were my friend. Now you've become… this. I hope one day you can come back to your true self. I'm sorry." It wasn't my intention to hit him, I only wanted to speak to him as calm as I could without fighting or arguing. He had it coming for speaking like that to us lately, and to me. If I hadn't calmed myself down when I had him by the neck… well, I'm glad that outcome never happened. I couldn't bear to look at myself ever again if I did. So I just walked away back to the lab to get some much needed food, a tear running down my cheek unnoticeable at first at the thought of Zackary never coming back to us again, that Shiny Latias had won… "Damn it…"

* * *

**Zackary's Home – The next day**

The house was empty now, no Yuri, no Henry, Ayaka, or Zackary. Just a house full of memories now. I walked into the living room and looked up at a photo frame of Zackary when he was still a human next to Latias. He was standing with Latias levitating beside him near a Super Latias store. This was before Zackary left town to become a member of the Savior's. I saw other photos, one that I picked up with my Psychic up to face was a photo of me next to Zackary, LisaLisa and Bent after the time anomaly was resolved. We were all rewarded for that mission. I did however remember that villain we all fought; Infinite whose origin was never actually resolved much before or after we defeated him. Some giant humanoid creature clad in white armor of some kind wanting to place all people and Pokemon in eternal sleep while feeding off their life energy from all timeline so he could live forever. I believe dying was his fear, and in the end he got it after all four of us teamed up.

The next photo I saw was one Zackary, Latias, me and the rest of us took together before heading out to face Shiny Latias and her Team Doom. Dewott wasn't in the photo or his family, Zackary wanted him to but Dewott never did. In the earlier photos Dewott was in he looked happy, even after the time anomaly was resolved. I'm not sure when it happened for him to act like a complete dick. Maybe after Shiny Latias killed Ayaka and Zackary saying he would go after her, who knows.

I shook my head and moved towards the kitchen, focusing on the back door leading to the back yard. This was where Shiny Latias killed Ayaka right in front of Zackary. I remembered it all; Shiny Latias near the open door, glaring at us with an evil grin, then the sound of Ayaka's neck breaking by Shiny Latias, dropping to the floor after being let go from her Psychic holding her up, it all had happened so fast. I turned away and made my way up stairs and walked into Zackary's room.

Like all other places in this house, this room was quiet. Another room filled with memories; photos on shelves from previous missions long ago, prizes won from claw prizes displayed on book shelf. I hoped up on Zackary's desktop chair and turned on the computer. No other reason to do so than just browse for… whatever I could find amusing. I found myself giggling at the thought of when Latias and I were on the same computer browsing funny videos online. Latias wanted to rewatch a funny video we had seen earlier, so we checked out the history to find it… then we accidentally saw Zackary's adult browsing. We checked it out thinking it was some kind of fighting video involving two girls… but it wasn't a fighting video… well I suppose everyone does eventually find something like this when they get a computer…. I'll leave it at that.

I did however check out the news of the attack on Team Doom's hideout from The Savior's, after a month there still wasn't any update on who survived; Savior members we knew, or even Zackary. Sure there were a lot of reported bodies of humans and some Pokemon, but I was dreading on seeing Zackary amongst the pile or Latias. Hope Zackary was still alive had risen when I heard from Lee about Shiny Latias with her small army still active with reports from Lee saying they are indeed searching for something. Since Shiny Latias wanted to use Zackary by controlling him with her ability knowing about Zackary's ability to absorb any Pokemon he defeated, she wanted him to get stronger before taking him and using him as a living weapon to conquer all. Did I believe Zackary was still alive? Yes. But did the others? They're kind've mixed on that. Unsure if Zack could've survived the drop into the river, and the river he did fall into was a calm one flowing right down towards Castelia. So he could survive. But if he did, we would've heard something from him by now, at least a phone call or a message so we know he's okay.

I turned off the computer, jumping from his chair and jumping on his bed to lie down. _"Psychics can communicate with each other via the Dark Place, a state in which all Psychics can access to remember the past, communicate with others, even our moves can improve."_ I thought to myself as I closed my eyes readying to use the Dark Place. Not sure who named it that, so whatever. After a moment of total concentration and a clear mind, I was in the Dark Place; a dark void around me where I could access memories from early youth to right now if I'd like. The images and memories were as clear as the day I saw them, really useful when trying to remember the important stuff. Strengthen my Psychic type moves while being in here, and sometimes on a bizarre level have your mind create anything I wanted to appear here with me; fictional creatures, characters from different universes, or some nightmarish hellish creature trying to scare you… but that's not a good thing if you are not trained to handle that sort of thing. Every time you enter the Dark Place, a rule we all must follow; Never stand up. You must remain sitting down at all times or your mind will go completely. Something about the mind not being able to handle you moving in two places at once, the mind breaks like dropping a vase on the floor, memories, everything is broken. However, it has been reported that Pokemon who do have their memories erased due to standing up when using the Dark Place, it is possible to reclaim lost memories. It just takes time. So anyway, what I was here for was to try my best to find Zackary, trying to get a connection with him so I could find out if he was alive and safe.

This hadn't been my first time doing so, because on missions between Pokemon D reams 02 after Infinite was defeated and before Pokemon Dreams 03 started, me and Zackary did go on missions together in different regions. Sometimes we got lost and sometimes we needed to find someone we already knew but went missing, I would use the Dark Place to locate them, and upon finding them I would guide Zackary to said people or Pokemon. Unova was a large region, and the month that had already passed would be a little tricky on finding Zackary if he was still alive. The river he fell into must have taken him towards Castelia City or further out to sea if he was caught up in the current.

I'm not sure how long I was at this for; so many hours turning into days faster than I realized all focusing on areas near and around Castelia City. I wouldn't give up, not until at least I had an answer as to what happened to Zackary, wanting to bring him back home.

Then I found it, like a dim light in the darkness far away I could see Zackary's signal. Without wasting a second, I rushed toward the light. He was sleeping since those who are awake and those asleep give off a different signal but in a way the same. I guess in a way Zackary's signal is kind of like a color; Zackary is Blue, Bent is Red, LisaLisa is Yellow. Brighter colors mean they are awake, darker means asleep… just role with it.

I spoke to him, but he didn't know who I was or where he came from, or even Latias. He was covered in scars all over his body from head to toe with a left eye cut out from the shiny bitch that is Shiny Latias. Smiling, knowing Zackary was alright in a sense he was still alive, at least I could help him come back home. But being within the Dark Place does has its disadvantages, it drains so much energy out of you faster than you realize, so I had to make sure the visits weren't too long so I would be ready for the next contact.

After the first contact with Zackary, I smiled and hoped off the bed about to leave to tell the good news to the others that our friend Zackary was alive and that soon he would be coming home.

End of Side Story 02/05…

* * *

**Trivia:**

This side story was cut from chapter 40. Espeon was meant to reveal how she first used her Psychic to contact Zack immediately after Zack showed up, but it was out of place and thought it would suit better as a side story.


	43. Side Story 03 Remember Us

Side Story 03/05 – Remember Us

* * *

****

**Beach of the…**

The sudden sound of high pitch static pierced my ears as I woke up. I gagged at the sudden strong taste of salt, and then I realized by turning my head I lying was beside a beach. I didn't know how I got here or where this place was. The sky was a bright orange, and yet strangely there was no sun I could anywhere. That was when I had noticed that I was a deserted island with no trees or vegetation out in the middle of the ocean, just sand and tall formations of rocks sticking out from the ground, some in the shape of Pokemon like a Rhyhorn, Pikachu, and an Espeon holding paws.

"Where am I?" I said to myself, confused as to how I got here, where this place was. I stood up and remembered everything that had happened recently before going to bed last night. "Aqua and I were on the beach near Accumula Town, the eggs haven't hatched yet and we right now we are discussing the names of our children. My memory has all come back to me, I told Aqua everything about my past, even turning into a Dewott to which she says she doesn't care about that and loves me for who I am, together we went to sleep right after eating… and now I am here on this island." I looked around again trying to figure out what I could do or where I could go first to find out where exactly I was. I walked beside the shoreline , maybe I would find something, a boat out at sea I could swim towards, a house up ahead, something I could use to get off this island and back with Aqua and our children.

With every step I had taken on this beach, the more uneasy I felt sending a cold shiver down my spine, and the sense of extreme loneliness and isolation. There was almost no sound anywhere; the waves didn't make any sound when hitting the shore. "I don't like this place, wherever it is." I said out loud, not liking the silence and trying to make some noise to comfort myself. "No sounds, no sun in the sky, just how did I get here?"

"By accident, from the looks of it." A sudden voice behind me startled me, almost as if by instinct I reached for my scalchop to defend myself. But behind me was unlike anything I had seen before. It wasn't a human, but a Pokemon I had never seen before looking up at me with a curious look. It looked like a Seel, but smaller and had two legs or fins, and had pointy ears and dark eyes. It was covered in white fur. With my scalchop in my paw, I stepped back a little still unsure what this Pokemon or what it wanted. It had said I was here by accident, what did it mean by that?

"Accident, what do you mean by I got here by accident?" The new Pokemon still stared at me before giving a quick glance down at my scalchop.

"You came here by accident. You washed up on the beach of…." My ears were once again hit with a high pitch static from out of nowhere before the Pokemon could reveal the location of this island. I looked around trying to find the source of the static, but I couldn't. "That which hurt your ears is the rule of this island, a rule were all of inhabitants can never know the true name of this place, a place where all those who live here can never leave…" the Pokemon turned towards the sea. "… to be there where those who do exist live."

"Exist? What do you mean?"

"I do not exist in the real world. You however do exist and ended up on the island." It said, still facing the ocean as it spoke. "I don't know how or why, but one day m e and the others came into being here only know our names and that we don't exist in the real world. I was known as Kurusu, and all of us are Pokemon who do not exist in the real world and will never be a part of the world you are from. What are you? I have never seen a Pokemon like you before."

"I'm a Dewott, a water-type Pokemon. My name is Zack Raines. How did I get here? One minute I was sleeping… and the next I woke up here on this beach. What do you mean I got here by accident?"

"You are dreaming." It revealed. I mean that would make sense since I didn't remember how I ended up here; sleeping in the cave one minute and waking up here on this island the next. But these Pokemon, this island… they don't exist. Dreams can summon up the oddest and unusual things, even the most bizarre of stories. But I couldn't help but feel bad for this Pokemon even if it didn't exist out there in the real world. "It can happen to one or two every several years. Our existence is known to the real world… but only barely. It was nice to have met you, Zack Raines. Your time is almost at an end here… the others are further down. Perhaps you would like to speak to them, hear them out before time runs out." The Kurusu said before it suddenly disappeared into thin air leaving me stunned at its disappearance.

I walked further down the beach to see the Pokemon the Kurusu said I would find. I found one near a tall rock staring out at the ocean. This Pokemon was black and white all over. It looked like some kind of Kroakadile with large eyes unblinking and long hair. "I am Crocky… at least that is what I heard whenever I was talked about, which isn't much. Few have seen me, less have discussed me, a small fraction care."

"I saw the Pokemon named Kurusu before. It told me it doesn't exist, is that the same for everything here?" I asked, the Pokemon nodded, never turning away from the ocean in front of it.

"What was I made for? What was I destined to become? What roads would I walk down leading me to my fate?" The Crocky asked, never receiving an answer to its question. "Would my kind be accepted by many, refused by some? Hated for my looks alone or my skills I hold? What many forms would I have if I existed?" Then like with the Kurusu, the Crocky faded away leaving me alone, so I continued down the beach in search of other Pokemon before my 'time was up' I had gathered what they meant by that was that I would be waking up soon. I thought for a moment that this was some kind of lucid dream showing me a bizarre story with new Pokemon created in my head, but I was intrigued to know them, to hear what they had to say.

I found another looking up at the sky, even still when I approached, never turning away. It was an unusual one, one I had never seen the likes of. Slightly a little larger than me with black and white skin, large ears and a trunk. When I introduced myself, the Pokemon shrugged and replied. "I see you have a name, but unlike me I have no name for I am unknown. What type am I? What moves do I know? I do not wish to become like that Crocky who only ever asks itself questions never finding an answer to any of them." The mysterious Pokemon sighed. "I saw MissingNo. the other day only for a brief moment. A being known to hundreds of thousands, perhaps more. It can be considered one of us for it doesn't exist, and yet it can be considered to belong in your world. It hurts both worlds, since it can cause things to happen in whatever world it exists within. In the world it is in, whoever nears will…" The unknown Pokemon moved its mouth, but no words I could hear came out. "… terrible things…. Aweful things…. The stuff of terror. The cause of the static you hear, it was observing you before you awoke on the beach, curious to see one that does exist within our domain."

"This MissingNo. is it another Pokemon?" I asked the Pokemon who only nodded its head and repeated.

"… terrible things…. Aweful things…. The stuff of terror. The cause of the static you hear, it was observing you before you awoke on the beach." I looked up at the sky. I had heard the static twice while I was here. If this Pokemon was all those things this Pokemon was saying were true, I hoped I didn't have to fight this thing. But thankfully I didn't have to fight anything while I was here. I never saw what this MissingNo. looked like or ever fought it. Even though this was a dream it was kind of creeping me out to point of me shivering in fear.

I spent the remainder of the dream walking down the beach, seeing the new Pokemon and talking to them; something called a Jaggu, Cactus, Barunda, and many more all telling me how lucky I was for existing in the real word, wishing they could also come with me to live. I woke up next to Aqua still asleep while holding the eggs close to her keeping them warm. I left the cave and walked onto the beach to see the sun about to rise over the horizon. That dream I had, talking to those Pokemon that don't exist in the real world, I told my friends about them and draw pictures of what they looked like, I don't know, thinking it would help bring some awareness to them. Espeon although never gave a clear answer when I asked her what she meant by; 'did you fly towards Cinnabar from the Safari Zone?' Even though it was a dream, I never forgot them real or not.

End of Side Story 03/05

* * *

**Trivia:**

I came across the Pokemon that were never used and thought about adding them to one of the side stories as a cameo appearance, but then I changed it so they are included into the story after seeing a lot more unused Pokemon, maybe thinking there would be an interesting story to tell.


	44. Side Story 04 There's a word for that

Side Story 04/05 – There's a word for that

* * *

****

**Nuvema Town – Gardevoir's POV**

There are so many words out there, each with different meaning and spelling. And you can find it all in the most beloved book of all time; The Dictionary, a beautiful book with so many pages featuring words from A-Z; description of the word, pronunciation… ah, the dictionary truly is the best book ever. As I held the book in my paw looking down at it, opening it up and reading from it would help me whenever I was feeling down, but after everything I didn't feel like doing so.

A month has passed since the battle with Team Doom had ended, a battle which ended with the loss of our best friend Zack, a loss most have affected, including me. Not only did Zack die in the battle, but Latias, Zack's sister and dad, that Reiko girl who works with Zack at The Savior's have all been kidnapped by that evil Pokemon and her new team. Espeon believes Zack is still alive, claiming she saw him in a dream, communicated with him through a dream…. _"Yeah, I believe that was an actual dream Espeon."_ I sighed sadly. Perhaps she was denying his death, trying to convince herself that Zack was alive and would be coming back. Totodile and Bayleef stayed quiet about themselves for a while after hearing of Zack's death, crying most nights, trying to comfort each other. Golurk and Lugia spent most days out in the garden talking to each other about Zack and how they missed him, recounting stories of Zack and the adventures they have taken. Dewott was the worst out of the Pokemon here, saying Zack got what he deserved especially for putting Latias in danger. Upon saying that, Espeon gave him a black eye and threw him against a tree pinning her claws against his neck, stopping herself before doing any damage.

I was resting my head on the grass looking up at the sky… my second favorite view with first being the dictionary, nothing could ever top that. I tried to find some way to relax, but had trouble doing so. The death of Zack hurt a lot, it left me feeling lost unsure on what to do. I realized that after the battle, after all we have lost we never did anything to tribute to the dead; Zack, Sakura, and Isaac. I wanted to set up a memorial for them, but I didn't know what I could do. Flowers around a photo of the fallen and those we lost to Shiny Latias wasn't enough. Flowers died quickly, and photos alone I felt weren't enough.

"Well my trainer the other day was clearing out her mother's attic before sending it off somewhere, mostly books." I overheard two Pokemon to the side of me talk to each other as they sat close to me. One of them was a Charmander, and the other was a Zigzagoon. I had seen them before many times around the garden belonging to the same trainer… actually, over the years they are the only two Pokemon the trainer has. We never spoke to them much, they were just there.

"Why is she doing that? That place is like a library, I thought she loved those things."

"Not too sure of that myself." The Charmander shrugged. "But I do think the attic is overfilled with books, so she is clearing books she already has for storage or selling, I don't know. Our trainer mentioned that her mother has over two thousand books in her library, but five hundred are going to be taken away since she already has the same ones or new ones in her library."

"Wow, two thousand books… do you think she has read them all?" The Zigzagoon asked but then quickly said. "H-hey wait a minute! Just how big is this attic of hers to hold that many books?"

"_Two thousand books? I have almost three thousand dictionaries in my collection growing by the day."_ I thought, almost cracking a smile knowing my collection was much bigger. I didn't like bragging about my collection to anyone, but hearing about how a woman was collection books for her library, I couldn't help but think back to my own collection. Then hearing the next thing the Pokemon talk about what most of the things she was sending away gained my interest.

"But the most she's sending away are blanked covered books." The Charmander said.

"Blanked covered? What do you mean, like they don't have pictures or a title on them?"

"No, I think they are more like create your own front covers or something. The title of the book is still there but the image below isn't. I think it is some kind of collector's item. You should have seen them, children's books, create your own adventure books… I guess most of them were for children. There was even a dictionary you could draw on. I get the other books, but a dictionary?"

The idea hit me like a ton of bricks; I would get everyone together and all of us could put in a piece of something they remembered from our friends to add to the memorial. A blank cover dictionary may be rare for an avid collector, but I wanted to get it and use that blank space for something I thought would be best suited for the memorial.

* * *

****

**Nuvema Town – Residential Area**

It took some time to find the place where the trainer's mother lived, and even longer to get the information out on the two Pokemon before making a run for it hoping the woman hadn't sent them off already. Thankfully they hadn't and were still there stacking the many boxes together. Somewhere within those huge boxes of bland boring old books was the beautiful dictionary I wanted. I turned the corner of the road and casually walked up to the boxes, not sure how I should handle this.

"Hi there, can I help you?" The Pokemon's trainer came up to me. "Hey, wait a minute! I have seen you before down by the lab, right? What are you doing here?"

"_Ah, I have easily been identified; I should've worn a disguise to hide my appearance… where is a trench coat and hat when you need one?"_ I sighed, finding myself feel a little shy after being identified so easily. Then from out of the big house emerged the woman I assumed was the other woman's mother.

"Oh, I thought the movers were here already. Who's this, a Pokemon of yours?" The daughter shook her head.

"No, I think I know this Pokemon. It's from the lab I think. Not sure what it's doing here. Maybe it got lost." Those movers coming to collect the boxes would be here really soon, I had to hurry otherwise I would lose my one chance to collect such a fine prize; a dictionary one can create their own cover art of. I mean, who wouldn't want that?

I pointed at the boxes, but they assumed I was asking 'what was inside them.' The woman smiled and sighed. "Those are boxes filled with books from my personal library. I'm sending them off to storage. The truck will be here in a few. But sadly I don't need any help since we got 'em all out of the house and ready for collection. We really got to tape up them before they arrive." The mother turned to her daughter handing her some tape.

"_Ah, haggling. I should've known this would happen. They want me to trade, i can see the looks in their eyes. These swindlers will stop at nothing to get the best out of me, and I really don't have much other than my vast untradeable collection of dictionaries and a metal coin I found on the street."_ I thought, eyeing the many boxes they had on the sidewalk not yet tapped up. _"The dictionary, the one with the make your own cover art… is it really in there? But how do I get it? Zack taught me from right and wrong, I can't just become a criminal and steal it. Then I'll probably have to become a crime lord and I would dishonor Zack, putting great shame to his memory and I didn't want to do that. So I have to think this through."_

The two women now looked at me, unsure what a random Gardevoir was doing here, why it stopped in front of them. If I waited too long they would probably call the police on me or something… I would be locked away. Most of the dictionaries I have collected over the years… most were uh taken from libraries and people's homes. The amount of years I would get for that would be really a high count, a hundred years at the most behind bars.

"Do you have a dictionary in one of those boxes that has a make your own cover art?" I pointed at the boxes, forgetting they couldn't understand me. Being around Pokemon all day really does make you forget about that language barrier. Again, the two women looked at each other. I sighed and walked over towards the boxes and searched them myself. The two women didn't protest, and thankfully the search didn't last long as I had found the dictionary I was looking for within the first minute of searching, talk about luck! The dictionary was a hardback one with the words 'Dictionary' at the top and underneath 'make your own cover' with a white blank cover underneath. This was perfect. But to obtain this for my own from the women without making it look like I was trying to steal this would prove to be a task. So I got up and walked over to them, using charades to try and tell them that I wanted this dictionary.

I pointed at the book and then at myself, hugging it. But the women looked at me with confusion. That didn't seem to do anything, so I had to come up with something else to try and tell them what I needed this book for. After some time, I remembered that I had a photo of Zack with me, then thinking that if I showed them this and trying again with the charades it'll help me tell them what I wanted.

I held out a picture of Zack when he was still a Dewott, using charades to try and tell them my friend Zack died and I was trying to set up a memorial with the others and I needed this dictionary. I held up the photo, hugged it, then made gagging noises as though to say Zack in the photo was dead, and placed the photo of Zack against the front cover of the dictionary wanting to place another photo on it.

The two women looked at each other first trying to make sense out of what I was trying to tell them. "Hmm… so you want to have this book to stick a photo of your mate on it and give it to him as a present?"

"Aw, that's so cute. Mom, you gotta give it to her now." The daughter said to her mother. I was about to correct them on that 'mate' part, but at least I would get the dictionary, that was fine by me.

"Alright." The mother smiled, finally handing me the dictionary.

"Thank you." I smiled, but before I was about to run back to the laboratory, the mother held her hand up and stopped me before grabbing another book from the box.

"Oh wait, since you have that dictionary, how about you have this one on the house." I looked at the book she had in her hand at first unsure what it was because of how faded it was, but then looked at it with disgust as I soon found out that the book she was offering to me was a thesaurus. The only book I needed in my life was dictionaries, those plain books and thesauruses would have no space in my heart and my dictionary collection.

"_Oh, if they think I am touching that, they are in for disappointment!"_ I thought before shaking my head and running as far away from that book as possible. I had important things to do today and wanted to get as much done with before the day was through.

* * *

****

**Pokemon Laboratory – Garden**

We gathered all beside the side of the laboratory for the unveiling of my surprise I had made for a few hours to the others. I only used what I could find to make this, cardboard boxes to set up the pieces, plastic flowers, and old decorations from Christmas. But I think it came out better than I expected, and I had hoped the others would like what I made.

"Thank you all for coming to the unveiling of the surprise I have made underneath this sheet." I stood up beside the surprise I had underneath a white sheet "What kind of mysterious things may be underneath you may be wondering, but do not fret, all shall be revealed."

"Gardevoir, you asked us before to find something all of us to bring something important, something that has a strong connection with Zackary." Espeon asked as she used her Psychic to show me a photo of her and Zack together a week after the time anomaly had been resolved. "What do you have planned?"

I cleared my throat and slowly but carefully unveiled my surprise to them. "Behold; the Zack Raines memorial!" With the sheet pulled off the display, all Pokemon gasped as they saw my creation. A cardboard box decorated with many Christmas decorations with the colorful words 'Zack Raines, we'll never forget about you.' stuck on the box. And on top of the box was a stand with the dictionary I got today with a Photo of Zack as he was when he was a human. I wanted there to be more to it, but that was where the others would come in, with the things they had brought along with them, I had hoped they would help contribute to the memorial. "I want to place it somewhere inside so it doesn't get blown away by the wind or get wet in the rain. I want it somewhere dry so it'll last. I thought about Zack earlier today, thinking how good of a friend he had been to me, never gave up on me or anyone of you. Ever since we got back, I felt empty, unsure what to do or if I would ever be happy again. Everyone was silent with each other… then I wanted to make something for our friend we lost in that horrible battle." I pointed at the photo of Zack on the dictionary. "This dictionary has a make your own cover. And the photo I used was one I remember Zack taking. After the time anomaly had finished, he helped me find a place where I could store my dictionaries I have collected over the years. He said that he was happy that he could help, that he was happy to call himself my friend. This dictionary is for Zack, I would've liked to have given it to him… but that isn't possible. Not anymore." I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Then I felt the hand of Golurk as it comforted me, along with the others moving in.

Then one by one they all handed in their own thing sot place on top of the memorial, mostly photos, but that was fine. They were nice with the others. Totodile and Bayleef gave in a photo of the two when they were young during Zack's first year as a Savior, the start of a great friendship. Espeon gave in her photo, placing it next to the one Totodile and Bayleef gave in. Golurk gave a photo of itself on the right side of the photo alongside the other Pokemon, Zack, Latias, Sakura, and Isaac before they went their separate ways all those years ago. Lugia gave in its broken Pokeball, the same one Lugia was kept in when it once belonged to Zack when he was a trainer.

With our gifts combined, we looked at the memorial together and smiled remembering Zack and the times we spent together.

End of Side Story 04/05

* * *

****

**Trivia:**

This would've been a chapter about how Gardevoir became obsessed over dictionaries, why she wants to collect them. But I settled on a chapter were Gardevoir wants to set up a memorial to her friend she thought was dead.


	45. Side Story 05 Family

Side Story 05/05 – Family

* * *

**Castelia City – Alley somewhere in the center of the city**

Purrloin grew up in an alley with her parents and a few others living as one entire family watching out for the other. From her early youth to her young adult years she grew up with them almost never leaving her home. The thought of leaving never once crossed her mind. No curiosity to ever take a peek what was beyond the alley she lived in. No, the alley was her world, her home where she was born and it was where she wanted to die. She was happy there, believing that this was how it would always be.

Purrloin walked through her alley she had lived in her life, it was her neighborhood, where all of her friends, and family, everyone got along. There was no need to venture out into the open. Life was good. Purrloin smiled as she watched the younger Pokemon play together. The alley was a somewhat dark place, almost filled with trash the humans had left out there, a place surrounded by tall buildings. To Purrloin this was her home, she didn't care what anyone outside her home said about it, she loved the place. Knowing the others she lived with they were happy to be living there.

"Looking good Purrloin, you look happy. How's about we have a rematch session, cause that last one we had, I ain't happy with the results."A Machoke grinned alongside his friends, the first of many to join in her gang. Purrloin had defeated Machoke in a one on one sparing match. The battle almost ended with Machoke coming out on top, but a banana unseen by either of them was left lying on the ground causing him to lose his footing giving Purrloin the chance to end the battle with one swift strike.

"Not in the mood for a rematch today, Machoke. Some other time, okay?" Purrloin shook her head.

"Hey c'mon, just one quick battle." He stepped forward. "Look, me and the guys were talking and we were thinking that if you win the battle, we'll treat you to something nice. And if we win you give us some of your food cause we are running out of ours already. Ain't gonna last for some time. C'mon, what do you say?"

Purrloin rolled her eyes smiling before she replied. "Hmm… alright then, a rematch." The Machoke silently cheered. "But first, I have to go home first to talk with my parents. They told me to come straight home after my chores were finished with. Wait for me here, okay?"

"You got it! Don't go bailing on me, ya hear?" Purrloin smiled at Machoke before running in the direction of her home in the corner of the alley, a large cardboard box for her and her parents to live in. It had been her home ever since she was born.

Before she walked in, she began thinking about the kind of moves she could use on Machoke, unlike last time we only won by luck when a banana peel was in the way of the Machoke causing him to slip up granting her the chance to finish him off. He was no pushover, one of the strongest Pokemon living within the alley. _"Better lure him into attacks if I want to win this. If I do win, I wonder what it will be they will give. It better be good, cause I really don't wanna have to give away my food to those boneheads. I'll beat them, cause I have Shadow Claw to help me out. He won't see it coming."_ Purrloin chuckled and shook her head walking inside to find a pair of Liepard's sitting in their home waiting for their daughter to come back. "What's up ma, pa? Have fun working today? I did while helping with the garden. New fruits and berries will be growing soon, all thanks to yours truly." She smiled, sitting down opposite her parents, sitting silently, their eyes unreadable at first, but Purrloin noticed there was also a hint of sadness.

Her parents were looked at one another before speaking to her. It was her father who decided to start things off. "Purrloin," he sighed. "You like so many others within our small community have come of age to start on your own. Your mother and I have both raised you well, but the day we became parents, the day we had you we knew that one day you would have leave us to start a family of your own. A parent can't keep their child with them forever."

"We have spoken to the other parents and they have all agreed to do the same for their children who have reached your age." He mother spoke up after her mate. "Together you can find a place yourself to call your own."

Purrloin just stared at them, still like a statue for a while before she got up and yelled. "So you're abandoning me!? Me your only daughter, your flesh and blood just tossed out onto the street? This is my home! You can't just kick me out!" Purrloin clenching her paws tighter, almost stabbing herself with her claws digging into her skin growing angrier by the second.

"Purrloin, we are not kicking you out. We are trying to protect you all." Her mother tried to calm her down as she came towards her daughter, trying to calm her down. In the past, Purrloin was different than other Pokemon within the community. She sometimes misunderstood what others told her or said around her; jokes seen as harsh insults and threats against her life, delusions that no one cared about her that they were sick of her or were simply using her to gain things she had. The food Purrloin saved up for a long time, everyone knew she had more to spare, some she thought called her greedy and cruel for not sharing any.

The Machoke before actually did want a rematch with Purrloin, promising to give her something nice as a reward if she won, but if Purrloin lost the battle, Purrloin in her mind made it out that Machoke wanted the food when in reality he only wanted her to join his psychical class he set up to help the Pokemon within the community get fit and healthy. Sometimes her mind changed what others really told her; 'how was today for you Purrloin?' in a positive cheerful, and her mind would change it to 'why are you here, Purrloin?' in an aggressive way. Her parents have had issues with this in the past. Stopping their daughter from killing another after an argument ensued. Purrloin was convinced the Pokemon said she would kill her in her sleep tonight, but everyone who was there all heard her say 'why are you yelling at me? I was just asking if you are feeling okay!' after Purrloin was found in the center of the alley almost sick after eating bad food earlier that morning. Her parents knew this would happen, worried their daughter would hurt herself and tried to calm her down before things escalated.

"Purrloin, look at me. It's your mother." Purrloin looked into her mother's eyes and gave her a smile, a fake one. "You know who I am, right? Please tell me you do!"

"Purrloin, it's going to be alright." Her father added, nudging his daughter with his paw gently across her head. She always liked it when he did that to her thinking if he did it again she would react the same way, being back to her normal happy self. Purrloin gave him a fake smile, but stayed silent for a while.

"I am alright, ma, pa." She said, almost chuckling by the end. "See? I am just fine. Now if you don't mind, I did promise to meet with my… friends… were going to have a rematch battle. Don't know when I'll be back, so see ya." She almost paused at the word 'friend' she didn't have any friends, she only wanted a family. To her, that was good enough for her to be happy, a big family always there for one another.

As Purrloin calmly left her home, her parents were left with regret on telling their daughter that it was time for her to leave so she could start a family of her own instead of being with them. Not only did they want their daughter to leave, but they also wanted her to be safe, safe from the many Pokemon gangs within the city threatening their own community, threatening to kill them if they don't give up their food, not enough food was left within the community to feed all of them. Purrloin's parents and the others would stay to give their children a fighting chance, to make a run for it to somewhere safe were they can all live. A battle would take place soon within the community with many Pokemon from other gangs trying to take the food and supplies. Knowing their children, that if they knew why they wanted them to leave, they knew they would stay if they told them the truth. To stay and fight alongside with their parents to fight off the invading Pokemon, but the gangs within the city were far too dangerous for them to handle. They knew by sending them away it would be the last they would ever see them, and it hurt them knowing this. They would die in battle knowing their children would be safe.

Purrloin walked calmly through the alley, eventually reaching the center before looking up at the sky with disgust, she turned her head in the direction of other Pokemon looking right at her and whispering to each other. Purrloin couldn't hear them where she was, but her mind made her think they were saying something terrible about her; 'hey look, it's the crazy Purrloin.' 'careful, she might hear you say that and come at us with her weak moves.' 'I'm glad they are kicking her out of here. This place will be much better when she's gone for good.' Purrloin clenched her paws again, this time her claws sunk into her paws drawing up some blood. _"They all hate me…" _She thought as she stood there in the center. "No one cares about me… never have. They think I am insane, a crazy Pokemon who almost killed another for threatening my family? They call me evil, and yet they say those awful things about me… I'll show them." Purrloin began to chuckle as she walked away from there, not caring if anyone saw her, calling her crazy again. They never did call her crazy, they were concerned for her, and they really did care about her.

* * *

It started at midnight. A once lively and peaceful alley with many Pokemon living in ended tragically for most within in a single night. This attack within the alley in the center of the city was known as 'The bloody battle within Central Street Alley' by many members of the Savior's upon hearing about what was left over. A battle between two or more Pokemon gangs within the city ending with bloodshed. But this was no battle, it was a massacre.

Purrloin wandered the alley for hours waiting at the edge of the alley hiding behind trashcans looking out into the street watching as the humans and Pokemon walked by. She never once in her life got this far out before, always heading back before she could turn the corner. She wasn't sure why she came out this far and stayed hidden behind the trashcans, but she felt it was the only place she could be safe away from those she thought hated her. She watched the humans with their Pokemon happily walking down the street. "They look so happy… what would make me happy right about now? Parents running up and giving a hug and telling me they love me and don't want me to go? That it was all just a stupid joke?" Purrloin then remembered the looks in her parent's eyes, the look of sadness, and lies when they talked to her, the other Pokemon watching her as she walked by them, whispering behind her back.

After some time had passed, something inside her clicked and she got up off the ground and made her way back home. No thought, just headed straight home. The moment she arrived, she found them already asleep. In Purrloin's mind, she assumed they didn't care, that they never looked for her, but they did. They only stopped a short while to rest up before searching for the daughter again. They weren't asleep, and neither one noticed when Purrloin stabbed them one by one with her own Shadow Claw right into their heads, a silent and quick death. She didn't stop at them, she had planned to finish them all off, killing all without remorse with little to no care who was her target.

She was at this for an hour, killing all with a quick and silent death one by one moving up and down each alley she had come across. The alley held fifty Pokemon within their community, and yet in a single night Purrloin had killed forty. Before she could finish the remaining Pokemon off, and that was when she heard the screams coming from the center of the alley, so she ran towards the screaming Pokemon, only coming to a stop behind an old mattress to see Machoke with his older brother kneeling down beside his parents and little brothers lifeless corpse before the other remaining Pokemon of the community all ran towards the two, alarmed at what they saw. Purrloin watched from the corner and saw how they all comforted each other, reminding her when her parents comforted her whenever she was feeling upset or hurt. "A family…" she whispered before emerging around the old mattress stood up on its side towards the others.

"Guys…" she coughed. "Help! They came for us!" She fell to her knees as she gasped for air. The others ran to her all asking if she was alright and what happened. "Trainers attacked. Hunters came for us killing off most." She thought, trying to convince them of a lie. _"It must be good; otherwise they'll say I did it and kill me… n-no! I will not die, not to them, not to anyone. If they already know about the other gangs planned attack on this community soon, if I say it was them, they'll believe me. They never did like the other gangs out there."_

"Gang members… Pokemon from other gangs came in and… and… oh no!" She screamed, hiding her face behind her paws, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"My parents told me about them earlier today." I heard one of the Riolu's say between small hiccups. "I heard the stories about how vicious they are… but I didn't know they were capable of… this."

She got up and walked in front of Riolu, rubbing his head. "None of us did. I can see those Pokemon who did this to us were evil… I want them dead! The way they killed my mother, my father… It sickens me to my stomach just thinking about it. They may be close, and we have to leave this place before they come back and kill us too eliminating us all." Purrloin looked at the Pokemon; she could see they too wanted revenge for all they had done.

"I want to find a place to call my own." She smiled at the others, those lucky enough to live; Two Machoke's, three Riolu's, a Meowth, a Loppuny, and two Growlithe's. "Our family were killed this night because of them out there, the other gangs killing them all in cold blood…" Purrloin sniffed as a tear dripped her cheek as if on cue, she almost smiled for how good the timing was, and it seemed to have her over as the remaining crowd agreed with her, saying they were monsters for killing them, they wanted revenge. Her mind didn't change things that time. "Let's find ourselves somewhere else we can live. But in order for us all to get our revenge against those who have done this dreadful act, we must gather ourselves more followers to our cause.

"I want to help too." Machoke spoke up, sobbing after looking back at his father dead alongside his mother and brother. "My parents didn't deserve any of this, they were good Pokemon. My brother… " He sniffed. "He was only young, they didn't have to do it. Why did they kill him? He was only young…" Purrloin walked up to Machoke and hugged him, comforting him, almost on the verge of laughing for how they all believed her. To her, they were cruel. She could've killed them, but if she had done she would be alone, something she was afraid of. She was relieved that even after the lie, they could all still be together.

"I know it hurts, Machoke. We have got to be strong for them. Soon those evil Pokemon will get their just desert." Purrloin took a step back. "We must leave now; find ourselves a brand new home for us all…" Purrloin smiled. "All of us can become a family in our new home." She was successful; they all believed her lies, her tears, even the story about what happened that night. They believed right until the very ends of their lives that another gang had killed their families and friends.

The Pokemon left that alley behind, in search of a new place to call home. They eventually found an abandoned Pokemon Center south of the city beside the ocean. Despite it being old, in time they fixed it up faster as new recruits joined her team. Purrloin would soon set up the rules for all Pokemon to follow, a rule were all who join stay with the family from when they join and until they die. If they should eve leave the gang, they will be punished.

Her gang increased by the numbers almost to the hundreds as the years passed quickly growing a reputation as The Bad Ones, a ruthless gang stealing things from trucks and buildings, starting fights with other gangs and people if they ever got too close to their hideout.

It was a gang that lasted a little over ten years, and it would all come to an end when a certain white Dewott covered in scars from head to toe would wash up ashore at the beach of the city and a shiny Oshawott would join their gang.

The end of Side Story 05/05

* * *

**Trivia:**

I was unsure what origin story I wanted to explore out for two characters I had chosen; Shiny Latias and Purrloin. I wanted to choose Shiny Latias since her origin hasn't been fully explored yet and wanted to go into that. But since Purrloin was the main antagonist of the story I chose her instead of Shiny Latias since she appears only a small amount of times.

**AN: Well that's it for all of the side stories and this story; it has been a long one. Next story will be out sometime later this year, maybe around October/September who knows when, and it will be the last of the series. Thanks for reading the story and I hope you enjoyed and stick around for the next. If not and this was it, well thank you for making your time to check out the story I wrote. Take it easy guys.**


End file.
